China asks WTO to overturn ruling on US anti-subsidy duties

World Trade Organization sets deadline at 90 days to investigate and make a decision on appeal

China appealed the World Trade Organization ruling on the US anti-subsidy duties case on Wednesday, the Ministry of Commerce announced.

The WTO panel ruled at the end of March that US anti-subsidy duties on non-market economies did not break WTO rules.

The ministry asked the dispute panel to throw out part of the verdict, the ministry said on its website.

The appeal came after the panel ruled that the US' actions were not inconsistent with WTO rules when it passed an amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930 in March 2012. The amendment retroactively authorized its investigating authority to impose countervailing duties against countries it designated as non-market economies as of November 2006.

China had claimed that the amendment was inconsistent with WTO rules and that the US failed to provide its Commerce Department with proper legal authority to deal with disputed trade practices between Nov 20, 2006, and March 13, 2012.

The WTO established a panel to look into the case, and China's claim was not supported by the WTO.

But the panel did support China's stance on double counting, which held that the amendment to the Tariff Act and the methodologies used by the US Department of Commerce failed to eliminate the possibility of penalizing twice - one for anti-dumping an d again for anti-subsidies - on 25 anti-dumping and countervailing cases against China from 2006 to 2012. A penalty exceeding the amount of the alleged subsidy is against WTO rules.

The case involved goods worth more than $7.2 billion each year and touched upon an enormous trade imbalance between China and the US.

A total of 33 Chinese products, ranging from photovoltaic cells to tubular goods, were the focus of anti-subsidy investigations undertaken by the US from 2006 to 2012, according to World Bank figures.

"China hopes that the US would respect WTO ruling and change the abusive use of trade remedy measures as soon as possible to ensure an environment of fair competition for Chinese enterprises," the ministry said.

The WTO now has 90 days to investigate the case and make a decision after the appeal is forwarded, under its own rules.