According to Article 15 of the Protocol on China's accession to the World Trade Organization, WTO members shall stop using the surrogate country approach to conduct anti-dumping investigations against Chinese exports by today.

But the United States, Japan and some European countries refuse to grant China market economy status.

US President-elect Donald Trump once said during his election campaign, that he would place higher tariffs on Chinese imports. J

The United States does not support recognizing China as a market economy. The U.S. claims that state-owned enterprises have created unfair advantages for Chinese companies.

The U.S. also complains that U.S. investment inside China is unfairly restricted.

The Obama administration says China must formally file a challenge with the World Trade Organization before the U.S. will consider changing how it views China trade status.

But such a challenge could take a year or more to work its way through the WTO.

This face-off is setting a stage for how incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will treat the issue. Throughout the election campaign, Trump accused China of unfair trade practices and said he would place higher tariffs on Chinese imports.

This past week he said he does not support granting China market status.

Beijing says it will use all necessary measures to protect China's rights, so a showdown over trade seems inevitable once Donald Trump becomes the U.S. President on January 20th. Many analysts think Chinese steel will be the first area of negotiation.