China Agrees to Timetable for WTO Ruling Against Raw Material Export Restraints
China will implement the WTO’s rulings against Chinese export restraints on raw materials by December 31, 2012, according to the World Trade Organization. According to the WTO, China must implement the WTO Dispute Settlement Body’s rulings in China - Measures Related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials (DS394, DS395, and DS398) by 10 months and 9 days from the February 22, 2012, date of adoption of the DSB’s recommendations and rulings.
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.
(In July 2009, the U.S. requested WTO dispute settlement consultations with China regarding its export restraints on various forms of bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorus, and zinc (DS394). The European Union (DS395) and Mexico (DS398) also requested consultations with China. China is a leading producer of each of these nine raw materials, which are used in a multitude of downstream applications in the steel, aluminum and chemicals industries. In July 2011, the DSP ruled largely in favor of the U.S., the EU, and Mexico in this dispute. China, the U.S., EU, and Mexico subsequently appealed various aspects of the DSP report. In January 2012, a WTO Appellate Body found China’s export restraints on several industrial raw materials used as key components in the steel, aluminum, and chemicals industries to be inconsistent with China’s WTO obligations. (See ITT’s Online Archives 12013112 for summary of the USTR’s statement on the Appellate Body’s ruling, and 11070529 for summary of the panel’s findings. See also ITT’s Online Archives 09110510 for summary of the U.S. request for consultations.)