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China went to the WTO in 2012 to challenge anti-subsidy tariffs
the United States imposed between 2008 and 2012, mainly during
the term of U.S. President Barack Obama, on 22 Chinese products
ranging from solar panels to steel wire.
The decade-long case involving alleged subsidies has centred on
whether the United States could treat Chinese firms in which the
government owns a majority stake as controlled by the state.
The United States, which has argued that China benefits from
easier treatment at the WTO while subsidising manufactured goods
and dumping them on world markets, said the decision underscored
the need to reform WTO rules that had been used to "shield
China’s non-market economic practices and undermine fair,
market-oriented competition".
"The deeply disappointing decision today by the WTO arbitrator
reflects erroneous Appellate Body interpretations that damage
the ability of WTO members to defend our workers and businesses
from China’s trade-distorting subsidies," Adam Hodge,
spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, said in
a statement.
China had initially asked the three-person WTO panel to award it
the right to impose tariffs on $2.4 billion of U.S. goods.
The actual award is dwarfed by U.S. tariffs on more than $300
billion of Chinese goods imposed by then-U.S. President Donald
Trump, most of which are still in place.
However, the ruling was another symbolic victory for Beijing at
the Geneva-based trade body. In November 2019, the WTO awarded
China https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-trade-us-wto-idUSKBN1XB4K0
the right to retaliatory tariffs of $3.58 billion after finding
fault with the way Washington determined whether Chinese
products are being dumped on the U.S. market.
"The ruling once again attested that the United States has long
violated WTO rules, abused trade remedy measures and refused to
fulfil its international obligations ordered by WTO or
stipulated in WTO rules. This has seriously damaged the fair and
just international trade environment," Gao Feng, spokesman for
China's Ministry of Commerce, said on Thursday.
"China urges the U.S. to stop looking for excuses and
immediately take action to correct its wrongdoings in trade
remedy investigations against China," Gao told a news
conference.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by Andrea
Shalal in Washington and Stella Qiu in Beijing Editing by Mark
Potter, Jonathan Oatis and Mark Heinrich)
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