Reuters quoted in a move that escalates a trade row with the United States, China said it would ask the World Trade Organization to adjudicate a dispute over US punitive import duties on 22 Chinese exports, including solar panels and steel products.
China first brought the complaint to the WTO in May by asking the United States for formal consultations to explain the duties which Washington says are intended to offset illegal subsidies that gave Chinese goods an unfair price advantage.
China said in a statement circulated to WTO members this week that WTO rules entitle China to demand adjudication after a 60 day period of consultations. China will make the demand for adjudication at a meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on August 31.
The office of the US Trade Representative said in May that China decision to bring the dispute to the WTO was premature and not an appropriate use of dispute settlement system resources, because the US Department of Commerce was already working to address the issues raised by China.
But China statement said two subsequent rounds of talks on June 25 and July 18 had failed to resolve the dispute which includes wind towers as well as certain types of steel pipe, wire, cylinders and wheels, aluminum extrusions, wood flooring, magnesia bricks, thermal and coated paper and citric acid.
China is by far the world’s biggest producer of steel and is also a leading maker of clean energy equipment such as solar panels and wind towers, helped by Beijing’s ambition of tackling carbon emissions without slowing China growth.
Foreign competitors complain that its oversupply is the result of a market that is driven by forces such as government edicts and subsidies rather than fundamental supply and demand and China has created surpluses that distort the global market.
China decided to bring the latest WTO complaint which it says affects exports worth USD 7.3 billion after winning a previous WTO dispute last year over US duties on imports of Chinese steel pipes, off-road tires and woven sacks.
Many of China grievances might have been dealt with by a US court decision last year which struck down the Commerce Department’s ability to impose anti subsidy duties on non-market economies like China. But the US Congress voted to restore it in March ensuring US duties on about two dozen Chinese goods stayed in place.
The case is one of several currently live disputes between the United States and China at the WTO.
Source - Reuters
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