U.S. agrees to enter into WTO consultations with China over tariffs

摘要

The United States has agreed to hold consultations with China at the World Trade Organization over its Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as its proposed tariffs stemming from the Section 301 investigation into China's intellectual property practices, but maintains that there is no basis in WTO rules for China to request consultations in the first place. In an April 17 communication, the U.S. said Beijing's April 5 request for consultations over the Section 232 national security tariffs under the Safeguards Agreement was not justified because the 10 percent tariff on aluminum and 25 percent tariff on steel are not safeguards but rather driven by national security. The U.S. chose to accept the consultation request anyway.