USTR in China Review Mode
[ABS News Service/19.08.2026]
The
US Trade Representative’s Office is gearing up for its annual report to
Congress assessing China’s compliance with its World Trade Organization
commitments by seeking public comments.
Comments
are due by September 17, according to a Federal Register notice. USTR also has
scheduled a public hearing for September 30.
USTR
is seeking public input on issues including tariffs and other import restrictions,
export regulation, subsidies, technical standards, government procurement,
intellectual-property enforcement, services, transparency, judicial review and
the uniform administration of laws.
Commenters
are specifically encouraged to identify unresolved compliance concerns that
warrant USTR review.
China
became the WTO’s 143rd member on December 11, 2001, following 15 years of
accession negotiations. USTR is required by the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000
to report annually to Congress on China’s implementation of the multilateral
and bilateral commitments associated with its accession.
In
its 2025 compliance report, USTR continued to criticize China’s state-led,
nonmarket economic model and identified concerns involving subsidies, market
access, technology transfer and intellectual-property protection. WTO members
raised similar concerns during China’s most recent trade-policy review, particularly
about subsidy transparency, industrial overcapacity, state-owned enterprises
and the treatment of foreign-funded companies. They also recognized China’s
participation in WTO initiatives and certain efforts to liberalize investment,
according to the WTO’s summary of the review.
Public
comments, requests to testify at the hearing and other submissions should be
filed through Regulations.gov under docket USTR-2026-0496.