The U.S. has rejected a Chinese proposal to amend the World Trade Organization’s trade remedy rules, saying at a May 31 informal meeting of the WTO’s Rules committee that it would not participate in negotiations to change them, according to Geneva sources.
[Brett Fortnam] May 31st, 2017 [Inside Trade]
The U.S. said there was “no basis” for the negotiations based on its belief that the Doha round mandate has expired, sources said. Negotiating antidumping rules are incorporated in the Doha mandate. At the meeting, the U.S. noted that members did not agree to reaffirm the Doha mandate and said it was obsolete and disconnected from reality.
China’s proposal, given to other WTO members last month, suggested that members could coalesce around four potential outcomes on trade remedy rules: increased transparency; preventing AD measures from becoming permanent; preventing AD measures from overreaching; and allowing for special and differential treatment for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Most delegations said China’s proposal should not be linked to other areas of negotiations — in particular, ongoing talks on fisheries subsidies provisions. For example: Japan, on behalf of most members of the “Friends of Anti-Dumping Negotiations” (FANs) group, explicitly said the rules negotiations should not be linked to talks on fisheries subsidies.
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