China, the biggest exporter of the world, is clashing with the U.S. over trading complaints again. The current filing was made with World Trade Organization, and it challenges the U.S. on its anti-dumping measures, the AP reports. The complaint focuses on a bill that was approved in the U.S. Congress earlier this year. The new law gives the Commerce Department jurisdiction to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods. Shen Danyang, a ministry spokesperson, said, “This practice puts Chinese enterprises in an uncertain legal environment, in violation of the relevant rules of the WTO transparency and due process.”
Europe has also started its own anti dumping actions on imports of Chinese solar panels. The new U.S. policy affects 24 different products, and will cost China about $7.2 billion. The World Trade Organization’s statement says that these products include, paper, steel, tires, magnets, chemicals, kitchen appliances, wood flooring, and wind towers.
Countering China’s claims, the U.S filed its own complaint, where it challenges China’s unfair subsidiaries given for exports of automobiles and auto parts, that equal $1 billion from 2009-2011, as the New York Times reports. As the news of an impending filing against China started circulating, China announced that it was going to file a complaint with the WTO itself. The move from China does not seem to be intentionally coordinated with the U.S. case.
This is not the first time the two big guns have filed such cases. The two countries have had disagreements on market access and subsidizing solar panels, tires, steel, and chicken previously. Both countries are under political pressure, as presidential elections are looming nearer. Bashing U.S. trade and foreign policy on China seems to be a point scoring method for the two candidates, Romney and Obama. The latest development attempts to put Obama in a better light, as he speaks in Ohio today.
The decision on the WTO cases might not come for a year or more, as the organization takes a long time to solve such matters.
