China Programme • Volume 12 • Number 31 • 25th September 2008
China Launches WTO Dispute against US Import Tariffs
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China has filed a complaint at the WTO against duties that the US has placed on imports of certain Chinese steel pipes, tyres and laminated woven sacks.
“Considering that bilateral consultations between China and the US failed to solve concerns of China, China requested consultations with the US under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism regarding those measures,” the Chinese mission to the WTO said in a statement released on Friday.
Washington imposed the import tariffs arguing that China was selling those products in the US market at less than their normal value, a practice known as ‘dumping’ in WTO parlance. The WTO allows Members to try to counter the effects of dumping by imposing tariffs or other punitive measures against the offending country, but China argues that, in this case, the US has gone too far.
“After the anti-dumping and countervailing investigations by the US against the above mentioned products were initiated, China was highly concerned and has repeatedly articulated its position at various occasions, opposing the unfair practices of the US in those investigations,” the Chinese statement said.
China believes the import duties are “inconsistent with the obligations of the United States” under world trade laws, the country said in its official complaint.
The request for consultations with the US marks only the second time that China has independently launched a dispute at the WTO, although Beijing has been the target of a number of challenges in recent years.
In accordance with WTO dispute settlement process, the two parties will now have 60 days to resolve the matter through consultations. If no solution is found by the end of that period, then China can ask a panel of WTO judges to consider the case.
ICTSD reporting.
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[...] industry through the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism (see BRIDGES Weekly, 25 September 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/bridgesweekly/29763/). ICTSD reporting; “European plan to improve raw materials security,” PRC.COM, 10 November [...]