The WTO expert panel’s ruling contains legal errors regarding the report on the US suing China over the latter’s countermeasures against US tariffs on steel and aluminum and China has filed an appeal with the WTO over the report, the Ministry of Commerce said.
The WTO panel issued a report on August 16 saying that China’s tariffs imposed in response to duties on steel and aluminum imposed by the US are not consistent with WTO rules.
The ministry said that the US Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum targeted by China’s countermeasures are unilateral and protectionist measures, which have been found to violate WTO rules.
“We urge the US side to take concrete actions to respect WTO rules and correct its illegal measures as soon as possible. We also urge the US to work with other WTO members to resume the normal operation of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism at an early date and jointly safeguard the rules-based multilateral trading system,” it said.