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Australia rejects China’s request to set up WTO panel to mediate row over anti-dumping duties

  • Beijing had requested a WTO panel to be established to hear grievances over Canberra’s anti-dumping measures on products including railway wheels and wind towers
  • Australia blocked the appeal saying the duties were imposed to protect local industries but agreed to continue talks with China to resolve the matter

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Talks between Australia and China over the anti-dumping dispute failed last year after Canberra challenged Beijing’s tariffs on its wines. Photo: AFP
Australia has blocked China’s request to establish a panel at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to arbitrate a dispute on anti-dumping duties imposed on Chinese goods, further straining ties between the two sides.
Canberra rejected Beijing’s appeal for the WTO to examine tariffs it levied on Chinese railway wheels, wind towers and stainless steel sinks between 2014 and 2019 during a meeting on Tuesday, a Geneva-based trade official said.

China, however, will be able to make a second request.

Informal discussions between the two countries over the dispute fell through last August after Australia challenged Chinese tariffs on its wines and barley.

Trade and bilateral relations between Australia and China have plummeted since Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus last April without consulting Beijing.
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