China ‘regrets’ WTO ruling after losing grain import quota case brought by US
- World Trade Organisation panel decided China’s system of tariff rate quota system for rice, wheat and corn violated international trading rules
- Case was filed by the administration of former president Barack Obama in December 2016 before Donald Trump began the ongoing US-China trade war
China has promised to manage grain import tariff quotas within World Trade Organisation rules after losing an agriculture trade dispute case with the United States.
The Commerce Ministry’s response is “a statement of acceptance” according to Tu Xinquan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.
“It’s not the first time that China has lost a case at the WTO and it probably won’t the last – for China, it’s not a big deal,” said Tu.
The WTO ruling in favour of Washington came over two years after the administration of former president Barack Obama filed its complaint with the global trade body recognised as the default go-to place to solve trade disputes between member nations. That acceptance, though, has changed to open scepticism under Trump, who has threatened to pull the US out of the trade body and push for bilateral negotiations to fix problems.
The Obama administration filed its complaint against China’s quota system in December 2016, saying it denied US farmers access to the China market. If China’s tariff rate quotas for grain had been fully used, an additional US$3.5 billion worth of corn, wheat and rice would have been imported in 2015 alone, according to estimates by the US Department of Agriculture.
The US is also seeking a wholesale overhaul of the WTO, including revisiting China’s role in the international trading system. In particular, the US believes the world’s second largest economy should no longer be designated as a developing country that entitles it to favourable trade treatment.