Trade War! US Trade Protectionism

WTO warns against US possible trade protectionism measures

GENEVA - The World Trade Organization (WTO) reviewed the trade policy of the United States on Wednesday in Geneva, warning against its possible protectionism measures against its trade partners.

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A relating report was issued by the WTO secretariat with the review. While ranking the US trade and investment regimes as " among the most open in the world," the report also listed possible protectionism measures applied by the United States against its trading partners.

"The United States had 246 antidumping duty (AD) orders in effect in December 2009, 22 more than in December 2007 ... affect imports from 40 countries or territories," and countervailing duties (CVD) "final orders increased from 31 in 2007 to 41 in December 2009," the report said.

The United States is experiencing "a marked slowdown in the pace of negotiating free-trade agreements (FTAs)," the report added.

The report also expressed its concerns over "some anti-recession measures," including "provisions that favored domestic suppliers of goods and services."

Trading issues between the United States and its major trading partner China are also repeatedly mentioned in the report, including the additional imports duty apply on tyre imports from China and the decision by the United States in 2007 to abolish its long-standing policy of not applying CVD on China.

Sun Zhenyu, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the WTO said in a statement during the review "there is an incremental setback of free trade vis-vis trade protectionism in the US, particularly during and after the financial crisis."

Sun is worried about the side-effect that might be brought about by the expansionary monetary policy of the United States and its step back from the due leadership role in Doha Round negotiations.

During the review, many WTO members blamed the United States for not playing an active part in pushing ahead the Doha round negotiations and urged the United States to assume its role at an early time.

Trade Policy Review is an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries' trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. All WTO members are subject to review, with the frequency of review depending on the country's size.

The tenth review of the trade policies and practices of the United States takes place on 29 September and 1 October 2010. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of the United States of America.

WTO rules China win over US imports dispute

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-30 07:09

GENEVA - The World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a report of the panel on Wednesday, supporting China over its complaint against measures taken by the United States which have affected imports of poultry from China.

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The panel ruled that Section 727, the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, applied by the US had effectively prohibited the lifting of the ban on poultry imports from China, and inconsistent with the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). 

The panel concluded that the United States trade regime has not acting in accord with the specified provisions of the SPS Agreement and the GATT 1994, and has "nullified or impaired benefits accruing to China under those agreements."

In 2004, China and the United States stopped importing poultry products from each other for fear of the bird flu. China had called off the ban on poultry import from the United States when the situation was relieved.

Access of Chinese poultry to the US market is still blocked, because of the application of Section 727 passed by the US congress, which restricted the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its agency, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) from using funds allocated by the US Congress to create a rule to lift the poultry ban on China.

At the request of China, a panel was established by the WTO on 23 September 2009 to investigate the case.

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