The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled on November 1 that China could seek approval from the Dispute Settlement Body to implement compensatory sanctions for US goods totaling $3.579 billion. This is because the United States has illegal acts against Chinese goods when it implements anti-dumping measures. The ruling marks the first time that the WTO has imposed tariffs on trade disputes in China.
The World Trade Organization provided documents to members on September 11th. As the US did not take concrete actions to correct many of its illegal anti-dumping measures against China’s products, China has applied to the WTO to authorize trade retaliation of about US$7.043 billion per year.
In this ruling, the WTO pointed out that when the United States implemented anti-dumping measures, it illegally carried out Chinese goods and approved China to seek to impose tariffs on US goods worth US$3.6 billion, which is about half of the Chinese demand. China can now ask for a dispute resolution body to approve it.
The WTO ruling has nothing to do with the Trump administration’s measures to impose tariffs on China. China has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization about six years ago. According to the rules of the WTO, China can impose tariffs on the United States until the United States changes improper anti-dumping measures, or the two sides reach an agreement on a certain solution.
