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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov24/05) Geneva, 5 Nov (D. Ravi Kanth) — China on 4 November initiated dispute settlement proceedings against the European Union at the World Trade Organization over the imposition by Brussels of “definitive countervailing duty measures on new battery electric vehicles originating from China”. Coming close on the heels of an earlier dispute launched by China against the EU’s provisional countervailing duty measures on imports of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), China has upped the ante by launching a second dispute at the WTO, this time against the EU’s definitive countervailing duty measures on imports of Chinese EVs, said people familiar with the development. The EU’s definitive countervailing (anti-subsidy) duties of up to 45% on Chinese EVs came into force on 30 October, over and above the existing 10% tariff on Chinese EV imports into EU member countries. Filing a complaint against the EU under Article 4 of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) on 4 November, China said it regrets “to see that despite a large number of oppositions from interested parties, in particular, from EU member states, the EV industry and the general public, the EU still released its definitive measures, imposing high countervailing duties on imports of electric vehicles from China.” China said that it “strongly opposes the EU’s measures,” suggesting that its filing of a dispute is aimed at safeguarding “the legitimate interests of the electric vehicle industry and to support global cooperation in green transition.” Beijing criticized the EU on grounds that the “EU’s definitive countervailing duty measures lack factual and legal support, which constitute an abuse of trade remedies in violation of WTO rules.” Moreover, it said the EU’s duties of almost 55% on Chinese EVs “are protectionist measures in nature while implemented under the disguise of countervailing investigations.” As a first step, under Article 4 of the DSU, the EU is required to enter into consultations with China within a period of 30 days after the date of receipt of the request for consultations in order to amicably resolve the concerns raised by the complainant. If consultations fail to settle the dispute within 60 days, or if during the 60 days, the consulting parties jointly consider that the consultations have failed, China, as the complaining party, may request the establishment of a dispute panel. China urged “the EU to admit its error and immediately correct the measures, to preserve the stability of the global electric vehicle industrial and supply chain along with China and uphold the overall economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU.” If the call by China fails to result in any breakthrough, the dispute will likely run its full course. Due to the continued paralysis of the Appellate Body, it remains to be seen if the dispute will be referred to the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) to which the EU and China are signatories, said people familiar with the development. +
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