US Calls For Reform In WTO Rules After Global Trade Body Authorises China To Impose Tariffs On Washington

The United States on Wednesday (26 January) called for reforms in "WTO rules and dispute settlement" that have been used to "shield China’s non-market economic practices".

The statement by US Trade Representative office comes after the World Trade Organisation (WTO) allowed China to impose $645 million of compensatory tariffs against the United States.

The US had imposed anti-subsidy tariffs between 2008 and 2012, mainly during the term of the then US President Barack Obama, on 22 Chinese products ranging from solar panels to steel wire, reports Economic Times.

The case, which went on for nearly a decade, reportedly centred on whether the US could treat Chinese firms in which the government holds a majority stake as controlled by the state.

The USTR said the WTO decision favouring China in the case "reflects errorneous Appellate Body interpretations that damage the ability of WTO Members" to defend their workers and businesses from China's trade-distorting subsidies.

Adam Hodge, spokesperson for the US Trade Representative's Office, said the decision reinforces the "need to reform WTO rules and dispute settlement, which have been used to shield China’s non-market economic practices and undermine fair, market-oriented competition".

Earlier in November 2019, the WTO awarded China the right to impose retaliatory tariffs of $3.58 billion against US after finding fault with the way Washington determined whether Chinese products are being dumped on the US market.