Trade Disputes Between China and the U.S. Escalate

Earlier today the United States joined the European Union to file suit against China in the World Trade Organization. The suit protests China's use of a government agency to distribute foreign financial information. The U.S. Trade Envoy believes that this places U.S. and European distributors at a competitive disadvantage against Chinese suppliers. The suit filed specifically requests "dispute settlement consultations" from the World Trade Organization. The suit also protests the partial ban of foreign made films allowed in China. The U.S. claims that though American movies are legally banned, that American films are being pirated at enormous rates. They claim the ban is designed for economic reasons, not legal ones. The Bush administration claims that these restrictions are more severe than the ones from a dispute in 1997 in which the U.S. won an agreement on. To read more go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/business/worldbusiness/03cnd-trade.html?ref=worldbusiness