US Refuses to Accept WTO Ruling on CVD Against Chinese Pipe, Shelving, Solar Panels, Etc.
The U.S. did not agree to the legitimacy of an appellate body ruling on how it calculated countervailing duties on Chinese thermal paper, pressure pipe, line pipe, citric acid, lawn groomers, kitchen shelving, oil country tubular goods, wire strand, magnesia bricks, seamless pipe, print graphics, drill pipe, aluminum extrusions, steel cylinders, solar panels, wind towers and steel sinks, according to a Geneva trade official's summary of the Aug. 15 meeting of the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body.
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The U.S. said the appellate body took longer than 90 days to rule, and one of its members continued to work on the report past the end of his term. These issues are among the reasons that the U.S. is blocking appointments to the appellate body. If the U.S. does not change its stance before December, there will be no more appellate body.
It also attacked the substance of the report, which it said would render China untouchable through CVD, even though China is “providing massive subsidies to its industries through a complex web of laws, regulations, policies and industrial plans.”
China also complained about the report, which favored China in some respects, and the U.S. in others. China said that the WTO's view of what constitutes public subsidies is “dumbfounding,” but also said that the report will help address U.S. Commerce Department abuses, such as using non-Chinese benchmarks.
During the same meeting, the WTO approved the initiation of a panel to examine whether U.S. safeguard duties on imported solar cells and modules flouts international trading rules.
Organization members also learned that the U.S. is appealing a complaint from India that buy-local rules in renewable energy violate WTO disciplines.