WTO Activity

Froman Warns Of WTO Irrelevance If It Does Not Leave Doha Round Behind

NAIROBI, Kenya -- U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Monday (Dec. 14) warned that the World Trade Organization may slip into irrelevance as a negotiating forum unless members use the conference in Kenya this week to free themselves from the "strictures" of the Doha round and embrace a more "pragmatic" approach to both new and old trade policy issues. In an op-ed published by the Financial Times , Froman framed the Dec. 15-18 meeting here as the last chance for...

USTR launches Section 301 exclusion process for manufacturing machinery

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Tuesday opened a process to request exclusions for machinery used in domestic manufacturing from a slate of new Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods announced earlier this year. The Biden-Harris administration in May >announced tariff hikes on Chinese goods in several key sectors following a mandatory four-year review of duties adopted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. USTR initially proposed an exclusion process that covered 312 tariff subheadings, with...

China issues updated report criticizing U.S. compliance with WTO rules

The U.S. continues to act in ways that violate World Trade Organization rules and obligations by imposing unilateral and discriminatory measures, engaging in “bullying” behaviors and “abusing” trade remedies and export controls, China said on Thursday in its second report on U.S. compliance at the WTO. Following last year’s first-ever such report, the Chinese government, taking a page from Washington’s playbook, appears to have decided to make the report an annual occasion with the latest, titled “ 2024 Report on...

U.S.-China Commission: Congress should reevaluate China’s PNTR status

Congress should consider whether to revoke the permanent normal trade relations status the U.S. granted China in 2000, which cleared Beijing’s way to join the World Trade Organization, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says in its latest annual report. The commission of outside advisers was established by Congress in 2000, shortly after the U.S. granted China PNTR status, to monitor the national security implications of the U.S.-China trade relationship and annually present Congress and the administration with recommendations...

MC12 package:


WTO panel rejects China’s claims, sides with U.S. in solar cell case

A World Trade Organization panel has rejected China’s challenge to U.S. solar safeguard measures, finding that tariff-rate quotas imposed by the U.S. on Chinese imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells -- key inputs in solar panels -- did not violate WTO rules. The Trump administration in 2018 imposed safeguard measures on imports of foreign crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules following a petition from two companies and a determination by the U.S. International Trade Commission that imports could harm...

Panel report

USTR statement

Previously Posted:
WTO to rule on U.S. Section 301 tariffs by the end of June
U.S., in WTO filing, says panel should rule it reached a solution with China


Korea’s DG candidate on retooling the WTO: ‘Success breeds success’

Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, a candidate to lead the World Trade Organization, says she knows how to close a trade deal. With the biggest trade deal of them all -- the World Trade Organization -- on the brink, Yoo believes the only way forward is to prove the beleaguered institution can build on successes on its way to reform. Each success, even if modest, helps secure political support and momentum, according to Yoo; each is also critical in rebuilding...

China: WTO Appellate Body Secretariat should remain ‘stable’ despite paralysis

China on Monday argued that the Appellate Body Secretariat, which is led by a director the U.S. believes exemplifies many of its concerns with the World Trade Organization’s appeals panel, should remain “stable” and “available” despite the Appellate Body’s paralysis. The ability of the Appellate Body to reform in ways demanded by the U.S. is linked to the tenure of the Appellate Body Secretariat’s longtime director, Werner Zdouc. With no appeals able to move forward due to the U.S. blocking...

EU, China, others declare intent to negotiate interim WTO Appellate solution

The European Union, China, Canada, Mexico and more than a dozen other countries plan to negotiate an interim appellate process at the World Trade Organization now that the Appellate Body has been rendered unusable, they announced on Jan. 24. The Appellate Body lost its quorum needed to hear new appeals in early December after the U.S. opposed a final attempt to address its concerns through a draft decision put up for adoption at a General Council meeting. The U.S. has...

Pages

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive, behind-the-scenes reporting on the trade relations with China and the changes being made by the Trump administration.