UNITED STATES – ADDITIONAL TARIFF MEASURES ON
GOODS FROM CHINA
Communication from the united states
The following communication,
dated 14 February 2025, was received from
the delegation of the
United States with the request that it be
circulated to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB).
_______________
On February 4, 2025, the United States
received China's letter of the same date requesting consultations pursuant to
Articles 1 and 4 of the Understanding on Rules and
Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes ("DSU")
and Article XXIII of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994").
China's request concerns certain actions of
the United States related to the President's Executive Order 14195 of February
1, 2025,[1]
and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act relating to issues of
national security. Issues of national security are political matters not
susceptible to review or capable of resolution by WTO dispute settlement. Every
Member of the WTO retains the authority to determine for itself those measures
that it considers necessary to the protection of its essential security
interests, as is reflected in the text of Article XXI of the GATT 1994.
China
has already taken the unilateral decision that the U.S. actions cannot be
justified under WTO rules, and on that basis imposed tariff measures on
U.S. goods. Specifically, on February 4, 2025, China asserted that
the U.S. actions breach WTO rules and announced additional tariffs of 10 or 15 percent
on certain products of U.S. origin in response to the U.S. actions listed in
the request for consultations.[2]
It is hypocritical for China to invoke dispute settlement for an alleged breach
of WTO rules while China itself apparently chooses to breach WTO rules by
unilaterally determining that a breach has occurred.[3]
Without prejudice to the U.S. view that the
actions cited by China are issues of national security not susceptible to
review or capable of resolution by WTO dispute settlement, or whether each of
the items in China's letter constitutes a "measure" within the
meaning of Article 4 of the DSU, the United States accepts the request of
China to enter into consultations. We stand ready to confer with officials from
your mission on a mutually convenient date for consultations.
__________
[1] See 90 Fed. Reg. 9121
(February 7, 2025), available at
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/07/2025-02408/imposing-duties-to-address-the-synthetic-opioid-supply-chain-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china.
[2] Announcement of
the State Council Tariff Commission on imposing additional tariffs on some
imported goods originating from the United States, Tax Commission Announcement
No. 1 of 2025 (February 4, 2025), available at
http://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/caizhengxinwen/202502/t20250204_3955222.htm.
[3] See DSU, Article 23.2
(where a Member seeks redress under the DSU, the Member "shall not make a
determination to the effect that a violation has occurred, that benefits have
been nullified or impaired or that the attainment of any objective of the
covered agreements has been impeded, except through recourse to dispute
settlement in accordance with the rules and procedures of this Understanding").