U.S. steps up WTO challenge of China export restraints

The U.S. government on Monday expanded its list of raw materials that it said China unfairly controls from global industry through export duties in a recent challenge lodged with the World Trade Organization.    The U.S. government on Monday expanded its list of raw materials that it says China unfairly controls from global industry through export duties in a recent challenge lodged with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
   On July 13, the United States challenged in the WTO China’s export duties imposed on antimony, cobalt, copper, graphite, lead, magnesia, talc, tantalum and tin. The United States on Monday further cited within the international trade body China’s export duties imposed on chromium and export quotas on antimony, indium, magnesia, talc and tin.
   These materials are used in myriad technologies produced by the aerospace, automotive, construction and electronics industries. The White House’s Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said China’s export duties and quotas on these materials puts U.S. manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.
  “[Monday’s] action again makes clear that we will not hesitate to challenge export policies that harm U.S. manufacturers by restricting their access for key inputs into products made here in America,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a statement.
   “The restraints we challenged last week, along with the ones we have included today, are part and parcel of the same troubling policy – one that provides advantages for China in important manufacturing sectors at the expense of the rest of the world,” he added.
   In two previous WTO disputes (China – Measures Related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials and China – Measures Relating to the Exportation of Rare Earths, Tungsten, and Molybdenum), the trade body found that China’s imposition of export duties and export quotas on two different sets of raw materials was inconsistent with WTO rules. In both cases, the WTO confirmed that China cannot justify its imposition of export duties not listed in the specific annex under Article XX of the GATT 1994, and rejected China’s attempts to justify that its export quotas are for the purposes of conservation and environmental protection measures.
   “Through this new WTO action, the United States seeks to extend and reinforce the important victories obtained by the United States in those two previous WTO challenges,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.
   Consultations are the first step in the WTO dispute settlement process. If the United States and China are unable to reach a mutually agreed solution through consultations, the United States may then request that the WTO set up a dispute settlement panel to examine the matter.