China Releases Draft on WTO Trade Remedies and Dispute Settlements

June 6, 2013 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 3 minutes

Jun. 6 – China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) released the “Interim Rules on the Implementation of WTO Trade Remedies and Dispute Settlements (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Rules’)” on May 28, which is the first its kind released by the MOC in handling trade friction.

Currently, Chinese administrative bodies don’t have the discretion to modify or cancel relevant policies and measures based on WTO rulings, which largely lowers the efficiency of implementing WTO trade remedy adjudications. The Rules thus offer a legal basis for such discretion, stating that where the WTO dispute resolution body requests China’s anti-dumping, countervailing, or safeguarding measures to be consistent with the WTO agreements, the MOC may suggest or decide to modify or cancel such anti-dumping measures, countervailing measures or safeguarding measures according to relevant laws, or decide to take other appropriate measures.

However, the MOC may carry out further investigations before making a decision on whether to revise or cancel the trade remedy or take other appropriate measures. Moreover, interested parties shall be informed of the investigation and shall be given reasonable time to put forward comments and opinions. In the case of an amendment to or cancellation of anti-dumping measures, countervailing measures or safeguarding measures, there shall be no retroactive effect and taxes paid shall not be refunded.

The release of the Rules comes as China has been facing increasing trade friction with other major economies in recent years, and the government has become more active in perfecting the country’s trade dispute legal system.

The Rules are currently seeking public opinions and comments, and such feedback can be submitted via the methods below through June 12, 2013.

Website: Log on to www.chinalaw.gov.cn, and submit comments through the “Opinion Collecting System” on the left side of the website homepage.
Website: Log on to www.mofcom.gov.cn, and submit comments through the “Opinion Collecting System.”
Address: Policy and Regulation Division, Ministry of Commerce, No.2, East Chang’an Road, Beijing, 100713.

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