washington: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will have a year to look into whether to launch a formal investigation of China's trade policies on intellectual property, which the White House and U.S. industry lobby groups say are harming U.S. businesses and jobs, according to The Japan Times. Trump dubbed the inquiry a very big move and experts on China trade policy said the long lead time could allow Beijing to discuss some of the issues raised by Washington without being seen to cave to pressure under the threat of reprisals. Trump broke from his 17-day vacation in New Jersey to sign the memo in Washington at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. ; The investigation is likely to cast a shadow over relations with China, the largest U.S. trading partner, just as Trump is asking Beijing to step up pressure against Pyongyang. China repeatedly rebuffed attempts by previous U.S. administrations to take action. Trump administration officials have estimated that theft of intellectual property by China could be as high as 600 billion. I'm sure they will formally reject this if an investigation is launched and there is an implication this is going to require negotiation to resolve it, said Matthew Goodman, a senior adviser for Asian economics at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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