The arbitral court of the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSU) published its ruling on China’s appeal against the US’s failure to implement the WTO’s ruling on its countervailing measures on Chinese imports on January 26, saying that China may annually implement retaliatory tariffs of up to US$645 million on US imports.
The case goes back to May 2012 when China sued the US for misusing the anti-subsidy tariff on certain Chinese exports, including several metal products, solar panels and wind power equipment. The WTO’s appellate body ruled in January 2015 that the US’s countervailing measures violated WTO laws, but the US refused to remove the tariffs. In 2019, the WTO approved China’s report against the US’s failure to implement the WTO ruling on its countervailing measures, meaning China could apply for trade retaliation against the US. The US may not appeal the ruling further.
Analysts said the case will serve to prevent other countries from misusing trade remedy measures. Zhang Yuejiao, former chair and judge of the DSU’s appellate body told China News Service that the US launched 87 anti-dumping investigations and 81 anti-subsidy investigations against China’s exports between 2010 and 2020. China winning the case has powerfully refuted the US’s claim that China is “not market-oriented” and can safeguard multilateralism, Zhang said.
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