Washington, DC – Today, Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) hailed the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute resolution panel ruled in favor of U.S. anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) measures applied to certain imported Chinese products. 

“I commend the WTO for agreeing with the United States that China subsidizes domestic production to the detriment of American competitors.  This important step confirms that U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty tariffs are legal, necessary, and fair.  I am pleased that the Obama Administration has applied these tariffs to level the playing field for American workers and businesses, who, now more than ever, require a level global playing field to recover from the current recession.”

In September 2008, China initiated a WTO dispute settlement proceeding against the United States concerning AD and CVD measures on circular welded pipe (CWP), certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires (OTR), light-walled rectangular pipe and tube (LWR), and laminated woven sacks (LWS).  China challenged the United States’ imposition of CVDs on unfairly subsidized products from non-market economies such as China, while also applying a non-market economy methodology in the AD investigations concerning the same products.  In another challenge, China contested Commerce’s determination that certain Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) are “public bodies” that provide subsidies.  China also contested Commerce’s choice of benchmarks to find the existence of a “benefit” and Commerce’s finding that certain subsidies were “specific” to a particular industry or region.  In addition, China challenged procedural aspects of the determinations, including the use of “facts available” on the basis of shortcomings in information provided by the Chinese respondents and the time to respond to questionnaires issued by Commerce.