The Trump administration has formally rejected China’s demand that it be treated as a “market economy” under global trading rules, a move likely to heighten tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The U.S. submitted its decision to the World Trade Organization in Geneva in mid-November and made it public on Thursday. Trump aides have long signaled their stance on the issue, but the filing marks the first time the U.S. government has publicly declared its position and explained its reasoning.
The fight’s stakes are high. The trading partners of a country branded a “nonmarket economy” have wider discretion to impose higher