China voices strong dissatisfaction, opposition to U.S. Section 301 investigation

BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the United States' launch of a Section 301 investigation into China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

The U.S. petition is full of false accusations, according to a statement from a ministry spokesperson.

The petition misinterprets normal trade and investment activities as damaging to U.S. national security and corporate interests, and blames China for U.S. industrial issues, lacking factual basis and running counter to common sense economics, the statement said.

These accusations from the United States are entirely untenable, the spokesperson said, as China's industrial development is the result of technological innovation and the active participation of enterprises in market competition.

While accusing China of adopting so-called non-market practices, the United States has provided hundreds of billions of dollars in discriminatory subsidies to its own domestic industries, the statement noted, highlighting that several U.S. studies have shown that the U.S. shipbuilding industry lost its competitive edge years ago due to overprotection.

It said that the United States is making another mistake in launching its latest Section 301 investigation, as the World Trade Organization (WTO) has already determined that the previous U.S. administration violated WTO rules by launching similar investigations and imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods -- actions that were also opposed by many WTO members.

China urges the United States to respect the facts and multilateral rules, immediately cease its erroneous practices, and return to the rules-based multilateral trading system, the ministry said.

China will follow the progress of the investigation closely, and take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its rights and interests, it said.