www.shcri.com - At the meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body on December 21st, 2009, China’s delegation indicated that the special safeguard measures announced by USA government on September 11th, 2009 to carry out punitive tariffs on Chinese-made passenger car and light truck tires for 3 years were made under the pressure of the trade protectionism in USA, which not only deviate from the international consensus to avoid protectionism measures under the financial and economic crisis but also damage the interests of the two countries. Moreover, these measures were made by USA government without supporting facts, so it goes against the relevant WTO rules.
China’s delegation also pointed out that Chinese government persists in the importance of cooperation and negotiation among countries to cope with the financial crisis. Any unfair and irrational protectionism measures will do harm to the interests of the country and its cooperators. As a trading power, USA should undertake the liability to ensure the global fair and free trading environment.
Chinese government initiated the WTO dispute resolution procedures on USA tire special safeguard measures on September 14th, 2009. According to the procedures, China and USA carried out the negotiation on the case in Geneva in November 2009. However, there is no satisfactory solution.
Though China’s delegation presented the request to set up an expert panel, it was rejected by USA side based on related procedures. At the following meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body scheduled on January 19th, 2010, China’s delegation can request again for setting up the expert panel, which cannot be rejected by USA side. Thus, the expert panel will be established automatically.
It will be at least half a year for the WTO expert panel to give the verdict on a dispute.
For more information on the China-USA tire special safeguard case, please visit:
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