The United States and five of its allies condemned, in a joint statement today, Friday, the exploitation of trade practices that rise to the level of economic coercion. Although specific countries were not named in the statement, it is clearly aimed at China.
Australia, the UK, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand issued a joint statement with the United States, emphasizing that "economic coercion related to trade, and non-market-oriented policies and practices" threaten the multilateral trading system and "harm relations between countries."
The nations expressed concern over "widespread subsidies," anti-competitive practices by state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfer, and government interference in corporate decision-making.
The six countries stated, "We are also deeply concerned about the use of forced labor, including state-sponsored forced labor, in global supply chains. All forms of forced labor constitute serious human rights violations, in addition to economic issues, and it is morally imperative to end these practices."
The statement comes after G7 leaders agreed last month on a new initiative to address economic coercion and pledged to take actions to ensure that any parties attempting to exploit economic dependency as a weapon would fail and be punished.
The United States, the UK, Japan, and Canada are members of the G7.
Washington regularly raises such concerns about Beijing's trade practices, with an official from the U.S. Trade Representative's office citing China's imposition of an import ban on Lithuania after the latter allowed Taiwan to open its embassy.
China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory, suspended imports of beef and dairy products from Lithuania last year.
The United States and its five allies expressed concern over forced labor in their joint statement today. Beijing protested in May against G7 statements, including those related to economic coercion, stating that the U.S. is "pressing hard to weave an anti-China network in the Western world."