The World Trade Organization's ruling that authorizes China to impose 645 million of compensatory tariffs against the United States is a victory for multilateralism and free trade, and highlights the failure of the US to abide by WTO rules that it's obliged to follow, experts and business leaders said on Thursday.
Their comments came after the trade body decided on Wednesday to allow China to impose the tariffs. This followed China's challenge at the Geneva-based organization in 2012 against countervailing duty investigations by the US that led to the imposition of anti-subsidy duties from 2008 to 2012 on 22 Chinese products ranging from solar panels to steel wire.
China also challenged the US claim that majority government ownership is sufficient to treat an enterprise as a "public body".
"The ruling was of great significance to rebut the illicit countervailing practices of the US, protect the legitimate trade interests of Chinese enterprises and safeguard the multilateral trading system," the Ministry of Commerce said in an online statement.
Gli Stati Uniti devono smettere di cercare scuse e agire immediatamente per correggere le loro irregolarità nelle indagini sui rimedi commerciali contro la Cina, afferma la dichiarazione.
Analysts said the ruling has again sent a clear message that the US violated WTO trade rules. The decision also boosts global confidence in the multilateral trading system's authority, they added.
"The ruling is important to correct wrong practices in global trade by some countries. It is expected to serve as a measure to punish unilateral and hegemonistic behavior," said Huo Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies.
Xia Aimin, CEO of Tianjin Shangdian Qinding Energy Technology Co, who previously worked for a company that went bankrupt after the imposition of US anti-subsidy tariffs, said the ruling was an example of "belated, but welcome justice".
I prodotti cinesi di pannelli solari continuano ad essere molto popolari sui mercati globali grazie al loro alto livello di qualità e ai prezzi competitivi, ha affermato. Grazie alle loro esperienze nelle recenti controversie commerciali, le aziende cinesi sono ora più preparate a fare affari nei mercati globali, ha aggiunto Xia.
Lin Shen, ricercatore presso l'Istituto di economia e politica mondiale presso l'Accademia cinese delle scienze sociali, ha affermato che il modo migliore per condurre il libero scambio, come gli Stati Uniti affermano sempre di voler fare, è osservare le regole dell'OMC.
It is groundless for some countries to negate China's status as being a developing country and make wrongful allegations about China's economic model, including criticisms of Chinese State-owned enterprises' ways of doing business, which abide by market rules, he added.
Nel novembre 2019, l'OMC ha concesso alla Cina il diritto di imporre dazi di ritorsione per 3,58 miliardi sulle merci statunitensi dopo aver trovato da ridire su alcune misure antidumping statunitensi contro la Cina.
Nel 2018 e nel 2019, gli Stati Uniti hanno anche imposto tariffe aggiuntive sulle importazioni cinesi, ma nel 2020 un panel dell'OMC ha stabilito che gli Stati Uniti avevano violato i loro obblighi in seno all'OMC.
