Global Times: The US International Trade Commission (USITC) claimed on Thursday that it would investigate the economic impact of revoking China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status over a six year period, a move that would likely increase tariffs on Chinese imports, Reuters reported.Chinese experts said the US’ push to revoke China’s PNTR status will unlikely work out given the economic cost on the US, complex legal procedure, and political divide within the US, while warning that such a move would violate WTO rules and undermine China-US relations and the global economic order.
The USITC, which studies trade and competitiveness matters and rules on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy trade cases, claimed in a statement that it will publish the results of the probe, ordered in a congressional appropriations bill, by August 21.
Also, it claimed that it will examine an alternative scenario where the US Congress revokes China’s PNTR treatment with a five-year phase-in of a subset of tariffs on products important for national security, according to a document on the USITC website.
The PNTR status, or granting the Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment permanently, is a legal designation in the US for non-discriminatory trade with a trade partner. This has become a ballast of China-US economic and trade relations over the past two decades.
However, when taking office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump ordered his trade and commerce chiefs to access legislative proposals to revoke the PNTR with China, per Reuters.But Chinese experts said there should be no worries on the Chinese side as for the US’ risky attempt. “In recent years, there have been several attempts among certain US politicians to repeal the PNTR with China.
The latest is just another attempt that aims to obtain a leverage in containing China’s normal development,” Bao Jianyun, dean and professor of the Department of International Politics at the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China on Friday.
For example, in April 2025, the White House issued the Report on the America First Trade Policy Executive Summary, which carefully reviewed legislative proposals related to China’s PNTR status and advised the president accordingly, according to a document on the White House website.
While there have been a variety of proposals within the US on this topic, none of them have become law due to multiple reasons such as economic costs on the US, complex legal procedure and political divide within the US, Huo Jianguo, a vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday.”
Revoking China’s PNTR status would cause a short-term decline in US real GDP relative to the baseline forecast, and the effects would be worse if China retaliates by imposing the same tariff changes on its imports from America.
US agricultural output would be lower than otherwise because the dollar would appreciate, curbing the sector’s exports. Manufacturing output would suffer because of the sector’s dependence on China as a source of intermediate inputs for production.
US makers of long-lasting durable goods would also be hit by an investment slowdown in both countries,” according to a report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics in December 2024. The US’ move attempting to revoke China’s PNTR status is a clear instance of unilateralism and trade protectionism, which violates WTO rules and undermines China-US relations and the global economic order, Huo said.
As stated in a white paper titled “China’s Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic and Trade Relations” released by China’s State Council Information Office in April 2025, “The relevant WTO rules require its members to unconditionally grant MFN treatment to all other WTO members, a requirement that has binding legal force.”It’s worth noting that the hype up of US’ so-called investigation came ahead of the reported sixth round of China-US economic and trade consultations.”
Against this backdrop, it cannot be ruled out that the US aims to obtain bargaining chips in the upcoming talks, but China’s capability in resisting external risks and challenges is growing,” Bao said, while referring to the country’s trade diversification in recent years.
Asked whether the US administration is willing to impose steep new tariffs on Chinese goods, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer claimed in a TV interview on Wednesday local time, “We don’t intend to escalate beyond” rates that are currently in place.”We intend to really stick to the deal that we have with them,” he said.
