WTO: China acted inconsistently with rules
Print Edition
THE World Trade Organization ruled yesterday that China had acted inconsistently with WTO rules with regard to the export measures imposed on the rare earth materials.
In regard of the dispute case which was brought against China by the European Union, Japan and the United States in 2012 to WTO, the panel report, circulated yesterday, said China’s export duty, export quota, and export quota administration and allocation measures imposed on rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum products were inconsistent with the WTO rules and China’s Accession Protocol.
Meanwhile, the panel recognized China’s comprehensive resource and environment conservation measures taken for the products at issue, and rejected EU’s claim that the “export performance” requirement imposed by the Chinese government on enterprises applying for molybdenum export quotas discriminated foreign enterprises.
The head of the Department of Treaty and Law in the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that China welcomed the panel’s ruling regarding the “export performance” and regretted its ruling over the measures taken by China over the exportation of rare earth materials.
The head pointed out that facing increasing resource and environment pressure, the Chinese government has been reinforcing and improving its comprehensive regulation on high-polluting, high-energy-consuming and resource-consuming products in recent years, in an effort to respond to the needs to conserve exhaustible natural resources and protect environment.
It manifested China’s endeavor to maintain global sustainable development, and China believed that these regulatory measures were perfectly consistent with the objective of sustainable development promoted by the WTO and contributed to the coordinated development of resources, environment and human beings, as highlighted by the head.
The head further stated that China would continue to strengthen its regulation on resource products in a WTO-consistent manner and maintain fair competition, and noted that China was now assessing the panel report and would follow the WTO dispute settlement procedures to settle this row.
The EU, Japan and the US teamed up to bring a joint case in March 2012 to the WTO over China’s measures related to the export of rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum, having claimed the restriction has curbed other countries’ access to those minerals and gave China a competitive advantage.
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