CIAO DATE: 07/2011
May 2011
Peterson Institute for International Economics
China's global economic dominance has changed the dynamic of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, which has been languishing for nearly 10 years. Whereas earlier lack of enthusiasm from the private sector debilitated Doha, today fear of competition from a dominant China inhibits progress. Progress now hinges critically on greater market opening not in services or agriculture but in manufacturing, where China is a large supplier to all the major markets, and its presence has grown significantly over the course of the Doha Round negotiations. China looms especially large in the markets of major trading partners in sectors where protection is greatest. China's share in these sectors in Japan is over 70 percent, in Korea over 60 percent, in Brazil about 55 percent, in the United States, Canada, and the European Union about 50 percent each. Liberalization under the Doha agenda, especially in the politically charged, high-tariff sectors, is increasingly about other countries opening their markets to Chinese exports.
Resource link: The Elephant in the "Green Room": China and the Doha Round [PDF] - 375K