Press Release

Joint Commission On Commerce and Trade (JCCT)

Remarks as Prepared Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Behalf of the U.S. Delegation April 11, 2006

Today, we convened the 17th session of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and I chair this meeting for the United States. We were also joined today by Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns. We're pleased to have with us Vice Premier Wu Yi from China as our co-chair.

The JCCT has become an important platform to identify and resolve problems so that we can expand fair trade between our two countries.

Mature trading partners can engage in frank discussions when working to resolve problems, and we did exactly that during today's meeting.

Let me take a moment to thank Vice Premier Wu Yi for her delegation's hard work. We appreciate your commitment to our relationship.

I am able to report that through the JCCT we were able to make some clear progress in a number of core areas and I will touch on a few highlights:

First, we made headway in increasing U.S. access to the Chinese market.

China has agreed to reopen its market to U.S. beef subject to completion of the technical protocol. We both committed to work closely together to do this quickly. This is an important market for American farmers and ranchers.

China has agreed to appropriate adjustments in equity capitalization requirements in the telecommunications sector, with discussions to begin this year. This will remove a barrier to U.S. service providers who seek to compete in China.

China has also agreed to remove barriers to trade in medical devices. They have also agreed to establish a public/private dialogue designed to facilitate direct sales.

Second, the Chinese have taken steps to ensure greater transparency in their economy.

China has announced that it will begin negotiations to join the WTO Government procurement agreement. Following technical consultations, China will submit its formal offer no later than December 31, 2007. This is an important development that will improve access of US companies to Chinese government procurements.

For the first time, China is requiring all central, provincial and local governments to publish their new trade-related measures immediately in the central government's official gazette.

Third, there were commitments made by China to improve enforcement of intellectual property rights.

China's National Copyright Administration and the Ministry of Information and Industry have issued rules requiring all manufacturers to preload legal software on computers sold in China.

Further, China has closed a number of factories producing pirated optical disks, and is stepping up overall IPR enforcement.

And finally, we have made progress in a number of other discrete areas.

The first is to set up a new working group on the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients, and the second is to enhance our new steel dialogue so that the private sector is brought into the process.

We've noticed with interest and appreciation the Chinese buying mission in the United States. We believe those efforts complement the policy changes we agreed to today.

Let me now thank everyone who took part in the 17th JCCT session. Because of your hard work, we have shown that a relationship based on trust and candor can lead to positive growth for both partners.

The real outcome of this meeting, of course, will be known when we see the results. We will both be looking for results before the next annual meeting to bring additional equity and balance to the U.S.-China trade relationship.

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