WTO rules certain US trade remedies against China inconsistent with its rules

The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled on Thursday that the United States had acted inconsistently with WTO rules with regard to its countervailing and anti-dumping measures on certain products from China. As for the dispute brought by China to the world trade watchdog in 2012, the panel report, circulated this afternoon, found that U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) failed to adjust the duty amounts so as to avoid double remedies in 25 anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations against China initiated between 2006 and 2012, which was inconsistent with the WTO rules. Meanwhile, the panel ruled that the United States was acting inconsistently with the WTO rules by passing the amendment to the Tariff Act in March 2012 and authorizing its investigating authority to impose retroactively countervailing duties against the so-called "non-market economy countries" as of November 2006. China's request for consultations in September 2012 with the United States over the latter's countervailing and anti-dumping measures on Chinese products came after the so-called GPX bill was passed to authorize the U.S. DOC to apply countervailing duties to "non-market economy" countries. The bill, a remedy for the Tariff Act of 1930, overturned a previous federal court ruling that the U.S. DOC did not have legal authority to impose countervailing duties on goods from non-market economy countries and gave an application retroactive period since November 20, 2006. In November 2012, China requested the establishment of a panel to probe into the case, which was established by WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) a month later. China had insisted that the GPX bill would place Chinese enterprises under an uncertain legal environment and violated WTO rules on transparency and procedural justice.