Trade Negotiations With Asian Nations Heat Up China Wants U.S. To Scrap `Irrational Demands’ In Copyright Talks

China set the tone Wednesday for next week’s trade talks with the United States, saying it expects Washington to abandon “irrational demands” for better protection of intellectual property rights.

The negotiations set to resume next Wednesday in Beijing are a last-ditch effort to avert a trade war. Both sides have announced sanctions that would take effect on Feb. 26 if an agreement is not reached.

“Since the U.S. side put forth many unreasonable demands, the two countries failed to reach an agreement during their previous round of talks,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted China’s trade ministry as saying.

Beijing blames Washington for the failure of the 20-month-long talks. The United States wants China to strengthen enforcement of laws protecting copyrights, patents and trademarks, in particular by closing down 29 factories producing illegally copied compact discs.

Washington says U.S. companies lose at least $1 billion a year in sales due to Chinesemade knockoffs of music, films, computer software and other goods.

China argues that it has made progress in copyright enforcement, accusing the United States of being unreasonable and meddling in its internal affairs.

The trade ministry said “the Chinese side would deal with the negotiations using a pragmatic approach … as China has always done in the past,” Xinhua reported.

The last round of talks, in January, reportedly deadlocked over China’s refusal to improve protection of computer software.

On Feb. 4, Washington announced a list of $1.08 billion in Chinese exports that would be subject to 100-percent tariffs. While the dollar amount was the largest in the history of U.S. sanctions, the move would not affect the largest areas of Chinese exports, including toys and garments.

China sold $36 billion worth of goods to the United States in the first 11 months of 1994, while buying $8.5 billion in U.S. goods during the period.

Retaliating for the U.S. sanctions, China threatened 100-percent tariffs on American cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, cosmetics and other products. It also said it would break off discussions with U.S. companies seeking to set up auto, chemical and pharmaceutical operations in China.