China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 came after lengthy negotiations. China’s exporters were granted nondiscriminatory tariff treatment by what are now more than 160 other WTO member countries. For its part, China agreed to carry out numerous steps to open itself to global trade and investment markets. In return for its agreement to abide by certain rules that normally govern a market economy, China was led to believe that trading partners like the United States would officially revoke its nonmarket economy (NME) status in December 2016. For China, the practical consideration of such a step was that its exporters would stop facing a special type of trade restriction.