Beyond Trade War: Reevaluating Intellectual Property Bilateralism in the US-China Context
Journal of International Economic Law, 2021, 24, 1-24
24 Pages Posted: 23 Mar 2021
Date Written: February 14, 2021
Abstract
The Economic and Trade Agreement between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the “Phase One Agreement”) concluded in January 2020 leaves many important questions unanswered. This article goes beyond narrow textualist approaches and seeks to conceptualize the current trade tension by providing an alternative narrative with a focus on China’s post-Trade War commitments to higher intellectual property rights (IPR) standards. In particular, it focuses on bilateral interaction between the U.S. and China during and shortly after the Trade War, and how the interaction impacts China’s legal changes from a transnational law perspective. It further argues that U.S.-reinforced IPR rules have potentially paved the way for further U.S.-China trade and investment talks. However, in order to better maintain long-term balance between preservation of policy-making autonomy and regulation of protectionist measures, an approach better-aligned with the WTO framework needs to be pursued.
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