With China, U.S. Needs to Verify But Trust

With high-stakes trade talks set to resume in Washington on Wednesday, U.S. officials say any deal with China hinges on how it can be enforced. That is indeed a key issue. But to have any hope of success, the U.S. can’t be entirely worried about whether China might cheat. It also needs to consider what conditions would best encourage Beijing to comply.

There’s good reason to mistrust any proffered Chinese concessions. China has reneged on or ignored all too many past promises, including obligations it undertook when joining the World Trade Organization. Simply having the right laws on the books — forbidding, say, the forced transfer of technology from foreign companies — means little; pressure is typically applied through more informal channels. Then, too, local officials can pursue policies even more diligently than the central government necessarily intends, as they have in handing out billions in subsidies to favored industries as part of the “Made in China 2025” plan.