China Opens Two Trade Investigations Into US Practices in Retaliatory Signal

China's Ministry of Commerce launched two formal trade investigations into US commercial practices on March 27, in direct response to the March 11 USTR Section 301 investigations targeting 16 economies including China for 'structural excess manufacturing capacity.' Chinese officials framed the investigations as necessary to safeguard China's legitimate rights and interests under WTO rules. The move raised the prospect of a new escalation in the US-China trade dispute layered atop the existing tariff regime, and came as the two governments were conducting 'candid and constructive' bilateral economic talks. BNN Bloomberg reported the investigations were designed to maintain pressure on the US ahead of a potential Trump-Li Qiang meeting.