The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced last week that it had prevailed on all points that were raised by China on appeal in a World Trade Organization challenge concerning antidumping (AD) duties and countervailing duties (CVDs) China has levied on U.S. exports of grain-oriented flat-rolled electrical steel (GOES). The WTO's Appellate Body "rejected all of China's claims on appeal," USTR said in an Oct. 18 press release. The Appellate Body upheld the panel's key finding that China had not adequately determined that price depression and suppression were due to the subject imports, and not to some other cause. The across-the-board victory for USTR appears to affirm its view that the Chinese duties, in this case at least, were without merit and were instead used as a retaliatory tool in response to other U.S. actions with which China disagreed. USTR General Counsel Tim Reif, when describing the GOES case earlier this year, argued that China is using trade remedies "as a trade policy tool without regard to WTO rules."
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