US breaks market rules by forcing China to buy more farm goods

China's highest planning body exposed the United States' deceitful claim on Monday. The White House, a day after describing the 12th round of trade talks as "constructive", threatened to impose extra 10 percent tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese goods starting Sept 1. Why? Because, according to the US, China doesn't buy "enough" US agricultural products.

However, the National Development and Reform Commission's clarification on Monday laid bare the US' fraudulent claim. In one month since the Osaka G20 Summit, the US has shipped about 2.27 million tons of soybeans to China, and by Friday, the two sides had reached agreements on agricultural products including 130,000 tons of soybeans, 40,000 tons of pork, and 120,000 tons of sorghum.

Playing wild cards at the table may be an effective tactic during business negotiations. But the mixed, if not chaotic, signals being sent by the US at the trade talks will do nothing "constructive", except for deepening the trust deficit and further damaging investors' confidence in the markets of the two largest economies. Besides, it will also add more uncertainties to the already fragile global economic outlook.

The US' accusation that China doesn't import as many US agricultural products as it has vowed to show how hollow the US claim is. Immediately after the Shanghai trade talks ended on Wednesday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said some Chinese companies are already purchasing US agricultural products based on their needs, and many enterprises, including State-owned enterprises, have been inquiring with US exporters about prices in order to strike deals in the future. On Monday, the NDRC said some companies could not finalize any deals because the prices quoted by US exporters were not competitive.

Indeed, by importing more agricultural products from the US, China can cut its agricultural production costs and environmental pollution, as well as meet Chinese consumers' diversified demands. But China can increase US agricultural imports based only on market demands.

Moreover, China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, so it should have been automatically recognized as a market economy in 2016, according to the WTO accession protocol. But the US still refuses to recognize China's market economy status and expects it to accede to unfair demands, such as importing as much agricultural products as Washington wants even against China market needs. Forcing any country to import products which doesn't fulfill its market needs is a violation of market rules.

By putting "maximum pressure" on China to purchase much more US agricultural products than it needs, the US creates obstacles for both sides at a time when their economies are slowing. But such unilateral tariff threats will backfire and deal a blow to US farmers, because China will never purchase more agricultural products than it needs.

The US is widely known to protect its farmers by providing them with huge subsidies. For instance, the US administration heavily subsidizes corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice, in total disregard to the WTO's rulings in favor of developing countries against the US in agricultural dispute cases.

As the campaign for the 2020 presidential election has already begun, domestic politics in the US will become increasingly complicated with politicians canvassing for farmers' votes. But China will not buckle under US pressure. In fact, the more pressure the US puts on China, the more uncertainty it will bring to its farmers.

Therefore, it's time the US stopped bullying other countries and stuck to the agreement that China would purchase US agricultural products based on its market demands. Only in this way can the negative impact on the Chinese and US economies be reduced.

The author is a writer with China Daily.