January 29, 2019

WTO sets up panel to rule on special U.S. duties on certain goods from China

At a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on January 28, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed to establish a dispute panel to rule on the additional duties imposed by the United States on certain imports from China.

China submitted its second request for the establishment of a WTO panel to rule on tariffs imposed by the United States on imports of Chinese goods under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974; China's first request was blocked by the U.S. at a DSB meeting on 18 December 2018.

The tariffs were imposed on the basis of an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative concerning alleged acts, policies and practices by China related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.

China said the unilateral U.S. actions not only infringe China's rights but also violate various WTO rules and fundamental principles of the WTO.

The United States said China was doing great damage to the international trading system through its unfair and trade-distorting forced technology transfer policies and practices.

The DSB agreed to establish the panel. The European Union, Japan, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Russia, Chinese Taipei, Ukraine, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, Korea and Brazil reserved their third-party rights to participate in the proceedings.