China Contests US Chip Export Controls at WTO

China took to the World Trade Organization Dec. 12 to challenge U.S. export control measures on semiconductor chips and other products, an official at China's Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation. China referred the export restrictions to the trade body's dispute settlement mechanism, claiming the U.S. has been "generalizing the concept of national security."

China said it hopes its latest national security-related action at the WTO settles its qualms through legal means and ends the U.S.' "zero-sum" thinking that is disrupting the trade of high-tech products, such as semiconductors. A spokesperson for the U.S. Commerce Department, which in October announced a range of new chip controls against China (see 2210070049), referred questions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. A USTR spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move comes just days after China notched a win at the WTO over the U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs (see 2212090060). In that case, a three-person panel said the national security tariffs were not "taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations," in violation of the national security provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.