U.S. challenges China in WTO over chicken trade

Lawmakers from key chicken production states, such as Delaware, Georgia and Arkansas, praised the Obama administration’s action to challenge China in the World Trade Organization.    The United States has requested the World Trade Organization to step in on a matter involving what it says is a failure by China to bring its antidumping and countervailing duties against imports of U.S. chicken products into compliance with the global trade body’s rules.
   U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the “action holds China accountable for unfair taxes they are imposing on American exports of broiler chicken products.”
   Lawmakers from key chicken production states, such as Delaware, Georgia and Arkansas, praised the Obama administration’s action to challenge China in the WTO.
   “As one of the main export destinations for products like chicken paws and wingtips, China is an important market to the United States. The sale of these products added considerable value to the U.S. broiler industry, and the duties imposed by China have unfairly hindered access to this important market,” the National Chicken Council and USA Poultry & Egg Export Council jointly said in a statement.
   China’s Ministry of Commerce first imposed antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. chicken products on Sept. 26, 2010 and Aug. 30, 2010, respectively. The antidumping duties ranged from 50.3 percent to 53.4 percent for the U.S. producers that responded to the Ministry of Commerce’s investigation notice, while the ministry set an “all others” rate of 105.4 percent. In its countervailing duty investigation, the Ministry of Commerce imposed countervailing duties ranging between 4 percent and 12.5 percent for the participating U.S. producers and an “all others” rate of 30.3 percent.
   In September 2013, the WTO found in favor of the United States on more than a dozen claims asserting China’s duties on chicken imports breached WTO rules. China subsequently undertook a re-investigation and, in July 2014, issued a redetermination that it claimed justified the continuation of chicken product imports from the United States.
   “On the basis of this intensive review, the United States considers that the reinvestigation process and the redetermination breach WTO rules and that accordingly, China has failed to bring its measures into compliance with WTO rules,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.
   The United States also noted that China has failed to properly calculate costs of production for a U.S. producer, conduct a transparent reinvestigation, and demonstrate that China’s poultry is harmed by U.S. imports.