VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBJ #4530 3500004
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 150004Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1379
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS BEIJING 004530 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR EAP/CM PAM PARK; FOR EEB MANISHA SINGH 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/KASOFF 
STATE PASS USTR 
USTR FOR STRATFORD/MAIN 
TREASURY FOR MANAGING DIRECTOR DAN WRIGHT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD CH
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO G20 NATIONS ON REJECTING PROTECTIONISM 
 
REF:  STATE 125609 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Treasury Secretary Paulson, USTR Schwab, Assistant 
to the President Daniel Price, Deputy Secretary of Commerce 
Sullivan and other senior U.S. Government officials 
delivered reftel demarche talking points throughout the 
course of the December 4-5 Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) 
in Beijing. They also made these points in a number of 
bilateral meetings with China's Ministry of Commerce held 
in the days preceding the SED.  In each case, senior 
Chinese officials also decried the specter of rising 
protectionism, reiterated China's commitment to avoiding 
protectionist measures, and encouraged continuing 
discussion of this issue in both bilateral and multilateral 
fora. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Minister of Foreign Commerce Chen Deming 
additionally noted that WTO rules should be the criteria 
for judging "protectionism".  In separate bilateral 
meetings with Chen, USTR Schwab pointed out that some 
measures - such as countries raising tariffs from current 
applied rates to bound rates permitted under their WTO 
commitments - while not violating WTO rules per se, would 
still be very unhelpful in the current global economic 
environment.  Such measures could, Schwab noted, affect 
China's exports.   Schwab also cautioned against trade- 
distorting measures to artificially stimulate exports 
(which could potentially apply in China's case). 
 
PICCUTA