China Takes Step Toward WTO Challenge Of U.S. Countervailing Duties

摘要

China last week announced it has taken the first step toward mounting a legal challenge in the World Trade Organization against all but four countervailing duty (CVD) orders that the U.S. has put in place against the country since 2007, including a controversial ongoing Commerce Department investigation of Chinese solar cell exports. In a May 25 statement released by its mission to the WTO, China cited 22 CVD orders imposed by the U.S. China has already successfully litigated the four orders not included in the request over issues such as the double counting of subsidies. The U.S. implementation of the dispute involving those cases, labeled DS379, is ongoing (see related story). The 22 CVD orders cited in the consultation request impact $7.3 billion in Chinese exports to the U.S., the Chinese statement said. "China hopes that, through constructive consultation and communication under the [Dispute Settlement Understanding], the United States will correct its long-term wrongful practices in countervailing investigations and address China's concerns," it added. "China believes that, in its CVD investigations, the United States continued to act inconsistently with WTO rules and [Dispute Settlement Body] rulings in many aspects, such as public body, specificity, facts available, subsidy finding on the export restriction measures, etc.," the statement said.