China Files WTO Complaint on 22 U.S. CV Duty Orders, Including Solar Cells
China requested WTO consultations with the U.S. about U.S. countervailing duty orders on 22 Chinese products, reports Chinese state media agency Xinhua. According to a statement by China’s Ministry of Commerce, the CV orders are inconsistent with WTO rules in many aspects, including application of the term of public bodies, specificity, facts available and U.S. consideration of export restriction measures as subsidies. Products at issue in China’s complaint include solar cells, on which the U.S. imposed preliminary CV rates of 2.9% - 4.73% on March 26, as well as oil country tubular goods, coated paper, and steel wheels.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
According to Xinhua, China’s challenge will focus on the U.S. practice of considering all Chinese firms partially owned by the government of China as “public bodies," regardless of the size of the government stake. By considering such firms public bodies, the International Trade Administration is able to allege that any goods or funds provided by these firms constitute government subsidies. Xinhua said the WTO has already ruled in China’s favor on this issue in March 2011, when an appellate body found that U.S. consideration of Chinese state-owned suppliers and banks as public bodies was inconsistent with the U.S.’ WTO obligations.
(See ITT’s Online Archives 11031414 for summary of March 2011 Appellate Body ruling against U.S. interpretation of “public body”, as well the U.S. practice of double counting. See also ITT’s Online Archives 12052333 for summary of agreement between the U.S. and China on a dispute settlement procedure in the implementation of this ruling.
See ITT’s Online Archives 12032602 for summary of the ITA’s affirmative preliminary determination imposing preliminary CV duties on solar cells from China (C-570-980).)