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The USTR said global prices for the three commodities were lower
than China's domestic prices, yet the country did not maximize
its use of TRQs, which offer lower duties on a certain volume of
imported grains every year. The USTR said that limited market
access for shipments from the United States, the world's largest
grain exporter, and other countries.
The TRQs for the three commodities were worth more than $7
billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. China would have imported up to $3.5 billion more
of the crops last year if the quotas had been fully used, the
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Thursday.
"The United States will aggressively pursue this challenge on
behalf of American rice, wheat, and corn farmers," U.S. Trade
Representative Michael Froman said in a statement.
It was the second challenge to China's agricultural policies by
the U.S. Trade Representative since September and the latest in
a series of trade disputes between the world's largest
economies.
China on Monday launched a complaint at the WTO against the
United States and Europe after they failed to treat China as a
market economy and ease their calculations of anti-dumping
duties on Chinese goods.
The United States in September charged that China's domestic
grain price supports exceeded agreed upon limits when Beijing
joined the WTO in 2001. The USTR has since requested that the
WTO launch a dispute settlement panel to investigate the matter.
Industry groups said Thursday's action would benefit all global
grain exporters that have struggled recently with low prices and
historically large supplies.
"This troublesome administration of China's wheat TRQ is
restraining export opportunities for U.S. wheat farmers and
farmers from Canada, Australia and other wheat exporting
countries to the detriment of Chinese consumers," said Alan
Tracy, president of the trade promoting group U.S. Wheat
Associates.
China is second largest importer of U.S. agricultural products
behind Canada, with $20.3 billion in purchases last year,
according to USDA data.
Thursday's action was the 15th trade enforcement challenge
against China by the Obama administration at the WTO since 2009.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Chris Reese and
Bill Trott)
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