China appeals against WTO dispute ruling on electrical steel duties

China has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body to review interpretations of the law and the methodology for determining duties on US exports of grain-oriented electrical steel, according to documents made public Monday July 23.

July 25, 2012

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China filed an appeal with the WTO last week challenging an earlier ruling that the Asian nation had incorrectly applied duties on the material against US producers in 2010.

In its appeal, China claimed the dispute settlement panel failed to properly interpret certain articles of the anti-dumping agreement and the agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures.

China also alleged that the panel erred in interpreting the Ministry of Commerce’s final determination and instead “ignored or dismissed key factors” in the discussion.

The panel also conducted “its analysis of price depression and price suppression by failing to conduct an objective assessment of the matter,” China alleged in its appeal. “In doing so, the panel also erred in failing to consider the totality of the evidence.”

Last month, the WTO ruled that China violated a number of international obligations when it imposed dumping duties ranging from 7.8-64.8% and subsidy duties of between 11.7-44.6% against US producers of the specialty product.

The WTO panel’s original report said China calculated subsidy margins in a manner unsupported by facts, failed to provide an adequate explanation for its conclusions and calculated a US-wide dumping and subsidy rate without substantiation.