WTO Arbitrator Says China Can Impose Retaliatory Measures Over 10 US CVD Measures

An arbitrator at the World Trade Organization in a Jan. 26 report found that China can implement countermeasures on goods from the U.S. up to $645.12 million annually due to U.S. violations of WTO obligations in a variety of countervailing duty proceedings. The arbitrator looked at 10 CVD matters and determined that the total level of "nullification and impairment" China suffered as a result of the U.S.'s "WTO-inconsistent methodologies" in these proceedings exceeded $645 million per year. The CVD matters concern pressure pipe, line pipe, kitchen shelving, oil country tubular goods (OCTG), wire strand, seamless pipe, print graphics, aluminum extrusions, steel cylinders and solar panels. The only nonredacted level of N/I for the CVD proceedings included $365.37 million for OCTG and $20.65 million for solar panels. China can now ask the Dispute Settlement Body for authorization "to suspend concessions or other obligations at a level not exceeding" $645.121 million per year.

China originally requested DSB authorization to "suspend concessions," or rather, impose countermeasures, on a total of $2.4 billion worth of U.S. goods. Over the course of the proceeding, China eventually dropped this number to $788.75 million, due, in part, to agreements with the U.S. The U.S., on the other hand, said that the proper level of N/I China should be allowed to claim is $106 million annually. If China ends up implementing these duties on U.S. goods, they would be an additional burden for the 58.3% of U.S. exports subject to Chinese tariffs, according to data from the Peterson Institute for International Economics.