United States – Universal and Country-specific
Additional Duties on Imports from China

Communication from the united states

The following communication, dated 14 April 2025, was received from the delegation of the United States with the request that it be circulated to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB).

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On April 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"), Article XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994"), Article 19 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the "Customs Valuation Agreement"), and Articles 4 and 30 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the "SCM Agreement").

China's request concerns certain actions of the United States related to the President's Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 20251, the National Emergencies Act, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, relating to issues of national security.  The President determined that additional duties were necessary to address the national emergency arising from conditions reflected in large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits with trading partners, threatening the national security and economy of the United States.  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 April 4, 2025, China asserted that the U.S. actions breach WTO rules and announced additional tariffs of 34 percent on certain products of U.S. origin in response to the U.S. actions listed in the April 4, 2025, request for consultations.2  It is specious 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.

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