Pressure from trade frictions on rise: official

 BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Pressure from trade frictions¹ has continued to increase this year for Chinese enterprises, while further challenges are expected in the future, a commerce official said.

Li Chenggang, head of the Department of Treaty and Law under the Ministry² of Commerce, said at a Tuesday Forum³ that with the global economy remaining weak, the number of trade disputes has increased and the disputes will likely apply to more areas in the future.

In the first five months of this year, 10 applications to investigate Chinese enterprises were filed in the United States under Section 337 of the U.S. Tariff⁴ Act of 1930, which allows the U.S. to shield domestic industries from unfair competition.

To fight protectionism, China has formally challenged U.S. countervailing duties on 22 categories of Chinese products in late May, accusing the United States of abusing World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in a case involving products worth 7.29 billion U.S. dollars.

More disputes within the WTO framework are expected between China and the United States or the EU, Li said.

Issues related to market access, WTO rules, the exchange rate of the yuan and intellectual property rights will continue to create challenges, he added.

1 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

4 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。