#Trump wants WTO to end China’s ‘developing nation’ status

President Trump on Monday said he submitted a request with the World Trade Organization asking it to end China’s status as a “developing nation.”

China’s WTO status is a frequent talking point for Trump, but the president told reporters at a White House briefing he made his grievance official.

“We are putting in and we’ve already put in a request that China should no longer be declared a developing nation and have advantages over the US,” Trump said. “And I told them that a year ago and I told them that two years ago and we put it in very powerfully that they should not have advantages over other countries, frankly, and they’re not gonna have any more advantages.”

A spokesperson for the WTO did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

According to Trump, the WTO’s treatment of China is unfair to the US.

“This should have been done by numerous presidents a long time ago because it gives them a tremendous — a tremendous boost over everybody else and it’s a very unfair situation,” Trump said.

“This is a developing nation? I don’t think so. I don’t think for purposes of what we’re talking about it should be.”

The US and China are in an increasingly bitter clash including over deception about early data on COVID-19 before it spread overseas, and in response to China eliminating political autonomy in Hong Kong. Trump this month signed an order banning — or forcing the sale of — the popular China-owned social media network TikTok over data security concerns.