WTO upholds auto complaint against China

Foreign Trade

14 February 2008

The WTO has upheld a complaint against China by the US, the EU and Canada over import tariffs on car parts, AFP reported. The complaint was the first against China to reach the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body since it joined the organization in 2001, as well as China's first defeat at the WTO. China has a minimum local content requirement of 60% for locally produced cars. When this threshold is exceeded, China then levies the same tariff on the vehicle used for imported cars. The plaintiffs argued that this measure violates China's WTO accession agreement to progressively open up its markets. China has increasingly been the focus of WTO complaints over intellectual property rights abuse and market access.

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