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US, Japan press China on computer rules
Washington (AFP) May 4, 2009 Top US and Japanese trade negotiators pressed China on Monday to scrap rules on foreign computers and appealed against protectionism amid the global slowdown. Toshihiro Nikai, Japan's trade minister, and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said after a meeting in Washington that China should drop its plans to require certification of IT products to be used by the government. Such rules "are inconsistent with international norms," Kirk and Nikai said in a joint statement. China says its inspectors will have to examine and certify 13 types of IT products, including anti-hacking software, before foreign firms can sell them to the government. The United States, Japan and other major IT manufacturers fear that China will use the process to learn trade secrets. Under pressure, China recently postponed the implementation of the rules, which were supposed to take effect this month, until May 2010. It also said the certification will apply only to government deals, not to all commercial sales. Nikai and Kirk also pledged cooperation in fighting the financial crisis and in relaunching deadlocked global trade negotiations. "They reaffirmed that protectionism must be avoided," the statement said. They said they would seek an "ambitious agenda" at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which will hold its annual summit in Japan next year and in the United States in 2011. APEC meets this year in Singapore. Separately, Kirk thanked the Japanese minister for not barring US pork products amid the global swine flu scare. The United States and Japan have been locked in years of sometimes bitter negotiations over US beef, which Tokyo has restricted due to fears of mad cow disease. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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