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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct25/13) Geneva, 21 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) — Ahead of a crucial high-level meeting between senior officials of the United States and China in Malaysia this week, China has inveighed against the Trump administration for its alleged failure to comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations and for aggravating the global trade war, according to a report issued by Beijing on 17 October. The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s Vice-Premier He Lifeng have reportedly scheduled a meeting later this week seemingly to resolve the high-profile spat over the supply of critical raw minerals amidst the worsening retaliatory threats issued by Washington, said people familiar with the development. The meeting is also expected to indicate whether US President Donald Trump will meet with China’s President Xi Jinping at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting in South Korea on 29 October, said people who asked not to be quoted. Meanwhile, in a report issued by the WTO division of China’s Ministry of Commerce on 17 October, the Trump administration’s compliance with the WTO obligations came under intense scrutiny. The report alleged that Washington’s systematic actions over the last eight months have destroyed “the multilateral trading system”, while imposing “unilateralism and bullying behaviors, manipulate double standards in industrial policies, and disrupt global industrial and supply chains.” The head of the Department of WTO Affairs in China’s Ministry of Commerce described Washington’s actions during the past year, saying that “especially after the new US administration took office in 2025, the US has continued to frequently implement discriminatory policies, particularly by introducing so-called “reciprocal tariffs” and launching a global trade war, which run counter to its obligations under the WTO, and have severely infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of various countries.” According to the report, “the US trade policies have deviated from its commitments under the WTO and undermined the rules-based multilateral trading system, arousing widespread concern and strong opposition among WTO members.” It argued that “against the backdrop of widespread calls within the WTO to restore the Appellate Body and support the promotion of inclusive development in the organization, the US has continued to refuse to implement the rulings of the panels and persistently blocked the reappointment of Appellate Body members, exploited the paralysis of the Appellate Body to file “fruitless appeals” , maliciously preventing the implementation of the rulings, and using “internal reviews” as a pretext to maliciously default on paying its contributions in WTO, which undermined the authority and efficacy of WTO rules seriously.” The report pointed to the enormous gains secured by the US in trade in services, while resorting to “the so-called “reciprocal tariffs” based on the goods trade deficit, and made them as leverage to coerce certain members into discriminatory and exclusive arrangements.” “The US has continued to frequently employ domestic laws that violate WTO rules to implement its discriminatory measures under the guise of so-called “national security”,” it argued. Washington “abused its dominant position in the economic and trade fields, [and] the US has continued to escalate its bullying behaviors in imposing unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdictions, which violated the principles of market economy and fair competition grievously.” STEEL OVERCAPACITY Referring to the recent moves by the US and other industrialized countries to take measures allegedly to contain “excess supply” and “overcapacity” in the steel sector, the report suggested that “while hyping up the notion of “overcapacity” to achieve its goal of curbing the emerging industries in other members, the US has continued to help its own industries to gain competitive advantages through large-scale discriminatory subsidies, excluded foreign products and suppliers from government procurement, created obstacles to normal commercial investment through unsubstantiated export control entity lists, and security reviews on foreign investment as well as the overseas investment operations of its own companies.” With regard to the US Treasury Secretary’s recent statements about “de-risking” from China in the wake of its proposed export controls on critical raw minerals, the report pointed out that “the so-called de-risking policy introduced by the US continued to create new risks globally.” Further, “the US continued to promote friend-shoring, and use unilateral tariff measures, such as those under Section 301 and Section 232, to force supply chains to relocate back to its shores.” In short, according to China, the specter of disruptive US actions has “created divisions among WTO members, and undermined the stability and healthy development of global industrial and supply chains significantly.” China urged “the US to play its due role as a major WTO member, abide by the rules, honor its commitments, abolish the “reciprocal tariffs” and other illegal measures as soon as possible, and work together with other WTO members, including China, to advance the multilateral trading system to play a greater role in global economic governance, and collectively devote to an equal and orderly multi-polar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.” +
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