China, as a relatively new member of the World Trade Organisation, has asked for extra time to phase in any new manufacturing tariff cuts it would be required to make under a deal in the Doha round of world trade talks.

That is a hard political sell for the US and many other countries that have seen imports of manufactured goods from China rise rapidly in recent years.

"We need China to come to the table with some quicker market openings then they've offered to date," the administration official said.

The US is hosting Chinese officials for economic talks next week at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

The US side, led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, will also prod China to make a better offer in the Doha round to open its financial and other service sectors to more foreign companies, the US official said.

"It's been seven years now since China acceded to the WTO. It's been longer than that since they began the process of reform and we do not think that should exempt them from further market openings in the services area," the official said.

Next week's meeting will focus mainly on bilateral issues, ranging from China's currency policy to the US increased use of anti-dumping and countervailing duties against what it says are unfairly priced and subsidised Chinese goods.

The two sides will discuss ways they can work together to mitigate the impact of China's rapidly growing demand for energy on the environment and climate change.

15th June 2008

Source: www.gulf-daily-news.com