China reviews trade law update as tariff barriers rise

BEIJING: China's top legislative body on Monday began reviewing the first revision in more than two decades of the country's foreign trade law, as Beijing seeks to give legal backing to countermeasures it can take in a trade conflict.

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China plans to expand trade bans and restrictions on foreign entities seen as threats to national security.
The draft includes a new system to assist trade adjustments and stabilise supply chains.
The revision comes amid escalating trade disputes with the US, EU, and Mexico, affecting China's export growth.

The revision would strengthen China's trade countermeasures, allowing trade bans or restrictions on foreign individuals or organisations deemed a danger to China's sovereignty or security, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The draft also outlines the establishment of a "trade adjustment assistance" system and measures to stabilise supply chains, the report said.

The revision, the first since April 2004, was expected this year, but its deliberation had not appeared in the agenda for a scheduled meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress this week.

China's commerce ministry had previously mentioned that "other necessary measures" beyond trade bans and restrictions could be taken, without providing details.

Such open-ended language allows for a vast range of countermeasures deployed in the past, including export controls and investigations into foreign companies.

It was unclear if the revision would be passed this week. Bills, revisions and amendments typically require three readings by lawmakers.

The rise of global trade barriers since Donald Trump's return to the U.S. presidency has exacerbated challenges for China's export-driven economy, with the imposition of sweeping duties on imports of Chinese products setting off months of tit-for-tat tariff escalations.

Washington and Beijing in August extended a truce for 90 days, staving off even higher duties.

Meanwhile, China last week announced initial anti-dumping duties on pork imports from the European Union, deepening trade tensions that spiked when the bloc imposed tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. Mexico is also considering tariffs on Chinese products.

China's export growth slowed to a six-month low in August, as a boost from the tariff truce with the U.S. faded.