The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that China’s 2018 tariffs on $3 billion in US imports violate international trade rules. “China’s additional tariff measures are inconsistent with several articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT,” the WTO dispute settlement body ruled. Beijing now wants to review the decision and the United States has welcomed the decision.
The tariffs imposed on some US imports were in retaliation by China in response to previous US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the People’s Republic of China. Donald Trump introduced metal tariffs in 2018 against imports from China as well as the European Union, Norway and Switzerland. After this, Beijing started retaliation. 128 US products and food items such as fruit and pork were affected. “The decision confirms that China illegally retaliated with alleged ‘protective tariffs’,” said Sam Mitchell, a spokesman for the US Trade Representative.
The United States and the European Union agreed to eliminate steel and aluminum tariffs in 2021. For other countries they remained. Several states filed complaints against it, after which the WTO confirmed last year that the US tariffs also violate GATT. Further, the justification for introduction of customs duty on account of safeguard exceptions was not acceptable. Washington appealed the decision.
