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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Dec22/17) Geneva, 19 Dec (D. Ravi Kanth) — China inveighed against the statement made by the US trade envoy to the WTO, Ambassador Maria Pagan, on 16 December, saying that Washington added 36 Chinese entities to the US export control “black list”, thereby disregarding the WTO rules while ignoring its multilateral obligations, SUNS has learned. At the concluding meeting of the 15th US Trade Policy Review (TPR) on Friday, China said less than 24 hours after Ambassador Pagan’s statement of US commitment to the multilateral trading system, the US continues with its “typical practice of market distortion and economic bullying.” Commenting on the US pursuit of “fair competition” through controversial environmental rules and protection of workers’ rights, China said it believes “that one of the basic obligations of WTO members is not to pursue their policy goals by violating the WTO rules.” It cited the recent US action to detain “a large number of Chinese photovoltaic products at the port, which seriously disrupted the normal trade of photovoltaic products between China and the US, and violates rules of both the market and the WTO.” Commenting on the US claim that “the Inflation Reduction Act is a key policy tool in addressing critical climate change objectives, and that all stakeholders can participate in this open and transparent process,” China said “what needs to be emphasized is that many subsidy policies of the IRA are inconsistent with the WTO rules, and no matter how the procedures are, they cannot conceal the nature of incompatibility with the WTO disciplines.” It argued that even the trade liberal magazine the London-based The Economist “pointed out, these subsidy policies will just make electric vehicles more expensive and low-quality, affecting the realization of emission reduction goals.” Criticizing the repeated US statement that “only absolute technological leadership could ensure its national security,” China said that it “would like to ask, if the US logic is followed, how will the national security be guaranteed for those Members who are unable to maintain technological leadership?” On the US claim that national security is justified under Article 21 of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), China said this understanding of the US was rejected by “multiple WTO panels and will be rejected in the future.” China said it “is also shocked and regretful to learn that the US “will not even apologize for” the policies and measures implicating national security.” Slamming the US pronouncement that “it would make the trading system more resilient, sustainable and inclusive,” Beijing said “the United States is attempting to separate China from the chips, electronic vehicles, biotechnology and bio-manufacturing industries through export controls, discriminatory subsidies and stringent investment reviews, and those policies have caused serious disruption and segmentation of the global industrial and supply chains.” “Is this the more resilient, sustainable and inclusive trading system pursued by the United States?”, China asked. Commenting on the US reply to questions posed by China, Beijing said it is “stunned that the US used “copy” and “paste” to provide identical answers to more than 40 questions, simply stating that its export control practices are in line with its domestic laws and WTO obligations.” China sought to know “how the practices of constant overgeneralizing the national security, measures of long-arm jurisdiction, and various coercion of interfering in other members’ trade management laws, could be consistent with WTO obligations?” Commenting on the compliance measures related to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the CHIPS Act of 2022, China expressed sharp concern over the US arguments “that the trade policy review are retrospective exercises and refused to elaborate on the details of implementation next step.” China said it “would like to ask: whether WTO Members have the right to question the US how to implement laws and measures that violate WTO rules in a manner consistent with WTO rules?” Emphasizing that the US lacks “sincerity in fulfilling its transparency obligations, which will damage the authority of the multilateral trading system,” China also criticized the US on the issue “of restoring the fully and well- functioning dispute settlement mechanism” that members are generally concerned about. It noted that the United States pointed out in its Government Report that “for many years, WTO dispute settlement has not met the needs of WTO Members, including the United States”.” China said it “can’t help but ask, what is the US ultimate goal of reforming the dispute settlement mechanism? Is it to ensure that “the US always wins the case”?” In conclusion, China starkly reminded the US that “Power invariably means both responsibility and danger”. It expressed the hope that “the United States will take responsibility through its own power and truly make trade a “force for good” instead of the other way around.” +
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