China will appeal a World Trade Organization panel ruling rejecting its claim that the retaliatory tariffs placed on the U.S. in response to Section 232 duties were justified, the country's Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 19, according to an unofficial translation. Beijing will appeal "into the void" seeing as the Appellate Body currently doesn't function, barring future enforcement action against China in the dispute.

On a panel on critical minerals ally-shoring, panelists representing the perspective of Latin America, the U.S., the EU and, to some degree, China, agreed that the current race to lock down supplies of the raw materials needed for advanced batteries, wind turbines and computer chips is one where every man is out for himself, and resource-rich countries in the Global South are exploited.

The EU will open a countervailing duty investigation on electric vehicles from China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her 2023 state of the union address to the European Parliament. The bloc "must defend" itself "against unfair practices," including Chinese state subsidies that keep its electric vehicles at artificially low prices, von der Leyen said. She also clarified that the EU's policy is one of "de-risk" and not decoupling, insisting that open lines of communication will remain open with Chinese leadership.

The U.K.'s Department for International Trade expanded antidumping and countervailing duties on hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel from China for another five years. In a pair of notices, the DIT said the duties will now expire April 7, 2027. The countervailing duties range from 4.6% to 35.9%, including a 35.9% rate for all other exporters not given an individual rate. The antidumping duties range from zero to 31.3%.

A World Trade Organization dispute panel issued a report Aug. 24 concluding the panel's work following China and Australia's agreement regarding China's antidumping and countervailing duties on Australian barley.

The EU this week launched an investigation into whether certain imports of biodiesel from Indonesia -- consigned from China and the U.K. -- are circumventing the EU’s countervailing duty measures. The bloc began the probe after receiving a July request from the European Biodiesel Board, which showed “sufficient evidence” that the imports may be violating the CV duties, the EU said Aug. 17.

Brazil and Canada recently announced antidumping and countervailing duty actions and decisions on certain products from mainland China, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 11.

The EU renewed the antidumping duties on tungsten carbide from China for another five years after an investigation showed the European industry would be harmed from dumped imports if the duties lapsed, the Directorate-General for Trade announced Aug. 9. Tungsten carbide is used to make hard metal tools in the "construction, mining, automotive and defence industries."

The European Commission doubled the antidumping duties on optical fiber cables from China following an investigation that found Chinese exporters "were attempting to impede the effects of the original measures," the Directorate-General for Trade announced Aug. 9. The commission said Chinese optical fiber cable exporters deliberately dropped their prices to bar the effects of the original duties, in place since November 2021. The new duties on optical fiber cable entering the EU from China will range from 39.4% to 88% -- twice the original duties and "the maximum increase allowed."

China will rescind its antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of Australian barley, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced Aug. 4, according to an unofficial translation. The duties had “effectively blocked” Australian shipments of barley since the measures were first announced in 2020, Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell said in a statement welcoming the news. “The removal of duties is the result of work by government and industry to resolve this matter,” Farrell said. China said the duties were officially removed Aug. 5.