WASHINGTON _ The Obama administration said Wednesday that it was filing a formal complaint against China challenging export duties on nine key raw materials, a move that comes as trade with the Asian superpower has become a key issue in the presidential campaign.
In an enforcement action filed with the World Trade Organization, the U.S. said China failed to abide by a commitment to eliminate duties of 5 percent to 20 percent charged on exports of materials, including cobalt, copper, graphite, lead and tin.
The materials are vital to manufacturing in important U.S. industrial sectors, such as aerospace, automotive, electronics and chemicals, said the U.S. Trade Representative's Office.
The complaint is the 13th filed against China at the WTO by the Obama administration. The filing is drawing heightened attention because Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has sharply criticized the administration's trade relations with China.
"These duties are China's attempt to game the system so that raw materials are cheaper for their manufacturers and more expensive for ours," said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.
"This scheme is directly at odds with WTO commitments China has made, and as we've shown time and again, we will hold them accountable to their commitments," he said.
Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled to give a speech Wednesday at the Port of San Diego highlighting what the administration said was its "aggressive record on trade enforcement."
"It all comes down to fair competition _ a notion that is fundamental to who we are as Americans," an excerpt of Biden's prepared remarks released ahead of the speech said.
"And one of the most important ways we have done that is by enforcing our trade laws _ more aggressively than any previous administration in history," he said. "Because here's what I know _ given a level playing field, American businesses and American workers will out-compete anyone. Period."
Zhu Haiquan, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said Wednesday that the U.S. was abusing the WTO process.
"Opposing protectionism in trade is a consensus of international community," he said." China urges the United States to strictly abide by the WTO rules, and restrain from abusing of trade remedy measures."
In a speech in Pennsylvania last month, Trump said the Obama administration had failed to go after China for trade violations and he vowed a tougher approach if elected president.
China's entry in 2001 into the WTO "has enabled the greatest jobs theft in history," Trump said.
The U.S. supported China's entrance during the administration of Bill Clinton, the husband of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
A Trump campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Assn. of Manufacturers said they supported the latest trade complaint.
"China's export restrictions on key raw materials give them an unfair advantage and are hurting a wide range of manufacturers in the United States from aerospace and automobiles to electronics and chemicals," said Jay Timmons, president of the manufacturers group.
"This is an important step forward that builds on two prior successful cases the administration pursued that eliminated China's similar restrictions on rare earths and other raw materials to the benefit of manufacturers across many sectors," he said.
Last year, China eliminated export controls on rare earth metals, such as tungsten, after losing an appeal of a WTO ruling against it triggered by a complaint filed by the U.S., Japan and the European Union.
