(Geneva) Experts from the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled on Wednesday that tariffs imposed by China on billions of US imports in retaliation for Washington tariffs on steel and aluminum violated the rules of the international trade.
A WTO panel set up to help resolve one of many disputes in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies has found that China’s “additional duty measure is inconsistent” with various articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Beijing has said it is studying the position of the WTO.
Sam Michel, spokesperson for the United States Trade Representative, praised her, saying she recognizes that China “illegally retaliated with bogus safeguard tariffs.”
The case revolves around China’s decision in April 2018 to impose tariffs on 128 US imports, worth around $3 billion, including fruit and pork.
An official with China’s Ministry of Commerce said the ministry was studying the experts’ report and would act on it, in accordance with WTO rules, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The unnamed official also demanded “that the United States immediately rescind Section 232 measures on steel and aluminum that violate WTO rules,” according to Xinhua.
The retaliatory tariffs had been applied by Beijing after Donald Trump’s administration imposed steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China and a number of other countries.
Distancing himself from decades-long U.S. free trade policy, Mr. Trump had justified the high tariffs with claims that the massive influx of U.S. imports threatened national security.
The administration of his successor, Joe Biden, has since adopted a less combative tone, but stuck to tariffs.
Separate panels set up by the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body to settle complaints over US steel and aluminum tariffs ruled in late 2022 that they too violated the rules of international trade.
Washington then appealed these decisions, considering that the inconsistencies found were not justified by the security exceptions provided for by the GATT, because they were not applied in time of war or in a case of serious international tension. .
Adam Hodge, then spokesman for the United States Trade Representative, pointed out that “the United States has for more than 70 years taken the clear and unequivocal position that matters of national security cannot be considered under the regulations. WTO disputes”.
The panel’s decision announced Wednesday did not delve into the question of whether Washington was justified in claiming national security exemptions.
But she acknowledged that the U.S. tariffs were imposed in evocation of such goals, not as purported safeguards imposed to protect domestic industry.
The panel therefore concluded that an agreement authorizing retaliation against unfair safeguard measures did not apply in this case, as China had argued.
He recommended that “China bring its WTO-inconsistent measure into conformity with its GATT obligations.”
The WTO appeals tribunal, also known as the Supreme Court of World Trade, has been frozen since late 2019, after the United States under Trump blocked the appointment of new judges and demanded a sweeping overhaul.