The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation called on the US, EU and Japan to “band together in strong trilateral partnership to pressure China into rolling back the mercantilist trade practices it uses to grow advanced, innovation-driven industries”.
In a report released on Monday, the think tank warned “without aggressive, coordinated action, leading economies in Europe, Asia, and North America are likely to face a crushing wave of unfair competition”. Jobs are also threatened in industries as diverse as aerospace, automobiles, biopharmaceuticals, chemicals, electronics, digital media, Internet services, machine tools, semiconductors, and others.
“China has progressed enough economically and technologically that it no longer fears bilateral pressure against its mercantilist trade violations, but it sees collective action as a real deterrent,” said ITIF’s associate director for trade policy, Nigel Cory, who co-authored the report with ITIF President Robert D. Atkinson. “Neither the United States nor the European Union nor Japan can make China change its ways alone, but together, through a stronger trilateral agenda, they can.”
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Japan Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama and EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan are having bilateral and trilateral meetings this week.
BoJ downgrades economic assessments of three regions
In the latest Regional Economic Report, BoJ downgraded the assessments of three regions, Hokuriku, Tokai and Chugoku. Nevertheless, all nine regions reported that “their economy had been either expanding or recovering.”
“The background to this was that domestic demand, in terms of such items as business fixed investment and private consumption, had continued on an uptrend, with a virtuous cycle from income to spending operating in both the corporate and household sectors, although exports, production, and business sentiment had shown some weakness, mainly affected by the slowdown in overseas economies and natural disasters.”
Earlier today, BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated that “we will adjust policy as necessary to maintain momentum toward our price stability target while examining risks… We will not hesitate to take additional easing steps if risks heighten to an extent that the momentum toward the price target is undermined.”
Full report here.