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Lighthizer: China a substantial trade challenge

President Trump’s top trade negotiator says China’s economic model is a threat to the world trading system that can’t be addressed under current global rules.

In a speech in Washington Monday, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said that China is a trade challenge substantially more difficult than those faced in the past. In the speech, reported by Bloomberg, Lighthizer said the sheer scale of China’s effort to develop its economy and to distort markets is an unprecedented threat to the world trading system.

Lighthizer says World Trade Organization rules weren’t designed to deal with China’s current approach to its economy. There’s currently a USTR investigation into alleged intellectual property violations by China. This was Lighthizer’s first major public speech since being confirmed in May as USTR.