China-US Trade Tensions: Section 301 complaints have been a feature of US trade disputes for years

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This trade spat has its origins in US legislation. And it's not the first time Washington has looked to the 1974 Trade Act to address international concerns. CGTN's Owen Fairclough explains.

DONALD TRUMP US PRESIDENT "We will combat the counterfeiting and piracy that destroys American jobs. We will enforce the rules of fair and reciprocal trade that form the foundation of responsible commerce."

U.S. President Donald Trump announcing an inquiry last summer into allegations that Chinese trade practices were harming the U.S.

It was conducted under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act, looking at claims that China has been breaking copyright laws and forcing U.S. companies that want to trade with it to give up their secrets.

Now both sides are engaged in an escalating trade conflict by threatening to impose tariffs on each other's goods to cause economic damage.

OWEN FAIRCLOUGH WASHINGTON DC "And while that sounds dramatic, these Section 301 complaints have been a feature of U.S trade disputes for years - particularly during the 1980s under another Republican President, Ronald Reagan."

"Is Darth Vader My father?"

In 1983, when Luke Skywalker was battling Darth Vader and the Emperor in Star Wars Return of the Jedi, Hollywood studios filed a complaint against Taiwan blocking distribution of their movies.

OWEN FAIRCLOUGH WASHINGTON DC "Even my shoes would have been problematic. In the same year, both Japan and Brazil blocked U.S. made leather goods. And let's add Taiwan again, blocking American rice, South Korea with wire rope and the European Union with soy beans."

Those disputes were eventually resolved, but while both sides in the current dispute have previously said negotiations could prevent a full blown trade war - Washington's latest escalation seems to have quashed Beijing's appetite for talks.

GAO FENG, SPOKESPERSON CHINESE COMMERCE MINISTRY "Under these conditions, it's even more impossible for both sides to conduct any negotiations on this issue."

It's difficult to estimate the impact of this conflict if tariffs are ultimately imposed.

But economists in the 1980s concluded that President Ronald Reagan's trade battle with Japan over vehicle imports and exports cost American jobs and raised consumer prices. OFA, CGTN, Washington.