U.S. seeks to end China’s export restraints on 11 raw materials

The United States asked the World Trade Organization to set up a dispute settlement panel to examine and put a final end to China’s export restraints on antimony, chromium, cobalt, copper, graphite, indium, lead, magnesia, talc, tantalum and tin.    The United States on Thursday asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to set up a dispute settlement panel to examine and put a final end to China’s export restraints for 11 industrial raw materials.
   The materials include antimony, chromium, cobalt, copper, graphite, indium, lead, magnesia, talc, tantalum and tin.
   The United States claims that China has used a system of duties and quotas to curtail the export of these materials, which are essential to a number of high-tech industries, such as automotive, aerospace and electronics, and give Chinese industries a competitive advantage over American manufacturers.
   The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) noted, for example, that 90 percent of the indium consumed in the United States is used for thin-film coating on flat-panel displays, which is part of a $10.1 billion computer equipment industry that employs 21,000 American workers.
   In addition, 98 percent of the chromium consumed in the United States is used for stainless steel, which is a $6.3 billion industry that employs 2,600 American workers.
   “China specifically committed to abide by fair, non-discriminatory access to raw materials when it joined the WTO,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a statement. “We intend to hold them to that commitment to ensure that our workers and businesses get all the economic opportunities they’re entitled to under our trade agreements.”
   China committed as part of the terms of its WTO accession to eliminate export duties for all products other than those listed in a specific annex. The export duties the United States is challenging are imposed on products not listed in that annex.
   The WTO has previously sided with the United States in two disputes with China pertaining to these raw material trade barriers, and rejected China’s attempts to justify its imposition of export quotas as legitimate conservation or 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 USTR said.