BEIJING -- Refusal by the U.S., European Union and others to recognize China as a market economy is the latest sign of intensifying trade friction between the Asian economic giant and other world powers, exacerbated by a supply glut in such industries as steel.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said Wednesday that the time was "not ripe" to grant China market-economy status under World Trade Organization rules. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry shot back at a press conference the following day, claiming that "the world recognizes China's success in developing a market economy."
