WTO ruling favours China in trade dispute with US

China secured a major victory against the US on Friday when the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) appellate body reversed a previous panel ruling on US anti-dumping and countervailing duties on certain Chinese products.

WTO agreed with a number of China's claims and reversed the panel's earlier findings holding the view that the concurrent application of anti-dumping and countervailing duties calculated using the US department of commerce's (USDOC's) non-market economy methodology was inconsistent with WTO rules. 

It also reversed the panel's interpretation of the term 'public body' and found that certain Chinese state-owned enterprises are 'public bodies' was inconsistent with the subsidies and countervailing measures (SCM) agreement.

However, the panel upheld the USDOC's 'public body' determinations with respect to certain state-owned commercial banks.

China had filed its complaint with the WTO in 2008 against the anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed by the US on its four sets of goods: pneumatic off-the-road tyres, laminated woven sacks, circular welded pipes, and light-walled rectangular pipes and tubes.

China claimed that the concurrent application of anti-dumping and countervailing duties calculated using non-market economy methodology resulted in the imposition of a 'double remedy' inconsistent with the WTO rules.