New York - A US technology group said in a report on Thursday that China’s mercantilist industrial policies were a risk to the global economy and trading system, and called for international pressure on China to force a policy “reset”.The report coincided with the release of a separate paper by an influential US business chamber criticising Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” plan, which aims to dramatically increase domestically made products in 10 sectors.
The two groups join a growing chorus of foreign business lobbies crying foul over such plans and the Chinese government’s billions of dollars in subsidies they fear will force members to surrender key technology or weaken their global competitiveness.
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Technology policy group Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (Itif) said China’s policies threatened the “entire global economic and trade system”.
Efforts by the three previous US administrations to engage Chinese officials had “failed”, Itif said, and with China no longer as economically dependent upon the US, Washington has insufficient leverage to counter Beijing alone.