The U.S., EU and Japan are set to announce on Dec. 12 an alliance to jointly confront China over its excess industrial capacity and other trade practices, media reports said.
Trade officials from the three economies are expected to take aim at the "severe excess capacity" in the steel sector, and the role of illegal subsidies, state financing and state-owned enterprises in propping it up, the Financial Times reported, citing a draft statement.
The statement is expected to be issued Dec. 12 on the sidelines of a World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires.
The alliance will also target China's intellectual property practices that require foreign investors to transfer proprietary technologies and store critical data on local servers, the FT reported.
While the statement will not name China, it will reflect the three economies' growing concerns about China's rise as an economic power, said the FT.
Both the EU and Japan are keen to convince the U.S. that it would do well for the latter to cooperate with the EU and Japan to raise pressure on Beijing instead of waging its trade battles alone.
