The United States' partial rejection of China's South China Sea claims will add to mounting tensions between the two countries, but will not alone derail their trade deal or upset the status quo of the contested waterway . On July 13, the U.S. State Department officially rejected China's "nine-dashed line" maritime claims in the South China Sea, affirming a 2016 ruling under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea . Specifically, the United States stated: China cannot assert an exclusive economic zone around the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, and has no right to unilateral energy extraction in these areas. China cannot harass Philippine vessels around the Philippines' Mischief Reef or Second Thomas Shoal. The United States rejects any Chinese claims to waters beyond 12 nautical miles around the Spratly Islands.