Effects of China's Software Policy on World Economy?

guptaparesh asks: "The Chinese government is currently engaged in a comprehensive overhaul of its procurement policies and regulations. These regulations would ban non-Chinese firms from selling software to the Chinese government. Given that how much trade all the countries in the world are engaged in with China, isn't this a unfair trade move by the Chinese government?" A better question would be how this might affect the worldwide economy, particularly that of the U.S. and China. What benefits and drawbacks may China see as a result of this new policy? What steps might the U.S. take to attempt to counter it?

Comments

unfair trade

[Saeger]

isn't this a unfair trade move by the Chinese government?

I thought that was the definition of the "free trade" euphemism, where only the U.S. is allowed to be a hypocrite.