At the China-Italy Business and Dialogue Forum in Italy last Friday, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao criticized the European Commission's recent actions against Chinese green products, including electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, and wind turbines, calling them "trade protectionist" and a "double standard."

Last week, several Democratic Senators weighed in on a recently filed Section 301 petition, calling on the Biden Administration "to investigate China’s unfair trade practices in commercial shipbuilding that undermine American workers and jeopardize our national security."

In response to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's discussion of Chinese industrial overcapacity last week, Vice Finance Minister Liao Min pushed back against Yellen's comments in a press conference. His responses suggest that there is disagreement between the two sides on the scope and seriousness

This past week, CTM covered the following issues. In China: * U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen’s trip to China * China’s new sanctions on two U.S. defense firms In the U.S.: * The first U.S..-China Commercial Issues Working Group meeting * Second phase of US -Taiwan trade talks

Yesterday, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for the U.S. "to ban Chinese-made electric vehicles to protect Ohio autoworkers, and to combat the economic and national security threats posed by Chinese automakers."

Today, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions against two U.S. defense industry companies for their arms sales to Taiwan.

Earlier this week, the European Commission issued a provisional determination in an anti-dumping investigation on certain alkyl phosphate esters from China, setting duty rates that range from 45.1% to 68.4%.