The World Trade Organization strengthened its support Thursday for China in a final ruling in a dispute over punitive duties imposed by the United States on a range of Chinese products.
A WTO appellate body upheld a panel ruling from July that Washington had “acted inconsistently” with global rules when it imposed extra import duties on a number of Chinese products, AFP reported.
The United States has slapped additional tariffs on products ranging from paper to tyres, magnets, chemicals, kitchen fittings and solar panels, arguing they were being dumped on its market to help Chinese companies grab business.
The July ruling charged that the US duties had “nullified or impaired benefits accruing to China”.
“We recommend that the United States bring its measures into conformity with its obligations,” that ruling added.
China said at the time that the annual export value of the affected products was around $7.2 billion.
Further Support
Thursday’s appeals body ruling went even further in its support for China. It slapped down an appeal by the United States charging that China’s initial complaint and request to set up a panel on the issue in 2012 was inconsistent with WTO rules.
Responding to an appeal by China, it also reversed the few findings by the panel that had sided with the US in July.
The WTO polices global trade accords in an effort to provide its 160 member economies with a level playing field. Members have the right to impose extra duties when goods are being “dumped” on them or sold at below market prices to corner a share of business unfairly.
But hand in hand with that right, they are obliged to prove that their domestic producers are suffering as a result of dumping, and that the duties are not simply being deployed to protect them against foreign competitors.
Wrangling over dumping is common at the WTO, whose panels can authorize retaliatory trade measures against a guilty party that fails to fall into line.
Thursday’s ruling cannot be appealed.
EU-Brazil Dispute
The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), on December 17, 2014, established a panel to examine a complaint by the European Union that several Brazilian programs in the automobile, information and communication technologies and automation sectors conferred tax advantages to domestic products.
The European Union made its second request for the establishment of a panel to examine this dispute. The EU said that the dispute concerned several Brazilian programs in the automobile, information and communication technologies and automation sectors that conferred tax advantages to domestic products.
The EU was troubled by the continuous extension and expansion of these measures to cover an increasing number of sectors. It, therefore, believed that it was important that Brazil abided by the WTO rules and requested the establishment of a panel in order to secure a solution to this dispute.
Brazil regretted the EU’s decision to request the establishment of a panel, reaffirmed the WTO-consistency of its programs and said it was prepared to demonstrate their consistency before the panel.
The DSB established a panel comprising of Argentina, Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, Chinese Taipei, and Turkey. The United States reserved their third-party right to participate in the panel’s proceedings.
