On March 27, the World Trade Organization (WTO) released the dispute settlement panel report in the Chinese government’s challenge to U.S.countervailing duty (CVD) law: United States – Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Products fromChina (DS449). The panel report upheld the application of U.S. CVD law to non-market economy countries like China. Today’s decision means that the 27 CVD orders imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC) on certain Chinese products pursuant to proceedings conducted between November 2006 and March 2012 will remain in effect.
The report, released today, confirmed that the United States acted consistently with its WTO obligations when it passed Public Law 112-99 (the so called GPX legislation) in March 2012. The GPX legislation clarified and confirmed the authority of the USDOC to apply countervailing duties to offset subsidies provided by non-market economy countries, most importantly China. The USDOC has been applying the CVD law to China since 2006. The GPX legislation became necessary when a 2011 decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the USDOC lacked authority to apply the law to China.
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