China seeks WTO dispute settlement with US over anti-dumping measures

BEIJING – China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has announced that it will seek negotiations with the United States under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to settle anti-dumping measures by the US against Chinese products. The Ministry cited 13 anti-dumping measures launched by the US, covering products such as oil well pipelines and involving a total export value of US$8.4 billion.

The issue is part of a wider range of trade disputes between the US and China, with the WTO ruling against Chinese anti-dumping duties on US chicken broiler parts as well as restrictions by the Chinese Government on exports of rare earths earlier this year.

After joining the WTO in 2001, China was initially a passive observer of the DSB. However, in recent years China has become more active, both as a complainant and a respondent, although it still has low participation levels relative to the size of its economy.