World Trade Re-Organization: Reforming Canada’s Trade Relations with China

Some World Trade Organization (“WTO”) members have lost faith in the WTO’s multilateral trade system, perceiving that China violates WTO obligations and principles. This paper explores WTO members’ main complaints against China, including that China 1) privileges domestic industry and companies; 2) steals intellectual property (“IP”) and forces technology transfer; and 3) misuses WTO mechanisms like antidumping duties and developing country status. The nature of China’s denials will be explored, as will examples of recent WTO disputes between Canada and China which demonstrate these tensions and nuance them. Many tensions originate from China’s status as a mixed socialist-market economy, which showcases the need for WTO reform. This paper concludes by recommending policies to alleviate some tensions in an attempt to re-legitimize the WTO in the eyes of China’s critics, which is especially important as Canada is leading talks for WTO reform.