In August, the WTO dispute settlement panel found that China was violating its trade obligations by imposing anti-dumping and counterveiling duties on US broiler chicken in 2010. The formal adoption of the report by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body means China will now have to change its rules on US chicken or face disciplinary action from the WTO.
The ruling has been welcomed by the US government, which launched dispute settlement consultations with China in September 2011, but was forced to request the WTO establish a dispute panel after consultations proved unsuccessful.
“This decision represents a significant victory for American farmers and chicken producers and proves that the US will not stand by while our trade partners unfairly hurt US exports and jobs,” said US trade representative Ambassador Froman.
“Given the wide-ranging violations found by the WTO, I hope that China’s acceptance of the WTO’s decision without appeal signals a recognition by China that it needs to take a serious look at its trade remedies regime and bring its rules, procedures and practices into line with its WTO obligations.”
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pointed out that China was a major market for US chicken before the duties were imposed, importing over 613,000 metric tons of US broiler meat in 2009. However, after the imposition of the duties in 2010, US chicken exports to China fell by 90%.
“China’s prohibitive duties caused a steep decline in exports of high-quality US broiler products to China, and with today’s news from the WTO, we look forward to seeing China’s market for broiler products restored for US farmers and chicken producers,” he said.