WTO Backs China's Complaint About U.S.' 'Dumping' Tariffs

The World Trade Organization sided with China in a key dispute with the U.S. over how Washington calculates anti-dumping duties that it imposes on certain Chinese products.

China's victory, announced Wednesday, settled a complaint that Beijing filed against the U.S. in 2013 over tariffs on imported Chinese goods, including high-pressure gas cylinders made of steel, and pipes manufactured for the oil industry.

Chinese exports covered by the ruling have a combined market value of $8.4 billion a year, according to a statement posted on the Chinese Commerce Ministry's website.

China "welcomes" the ruling and now urges the U.S. to "respect WTO's assessment, correct the misuse of anti-dumping measures as soon as possible, and offer a fair-competition environment for Chinese companies," the ministry said.

China agrees with the WTO's decision that certain U.S. measures, such as a calculation method called "zeroing," violated global trade rules.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), which defended the tariff system against the Chinese complaint, responded to the WTO decision by saying the U.S. will continue "to impose anti-dumping duties to address injurious dumping."

One company hit by the tariff calculations that irked China was Beijing Tianhai Industry Co. Ltd. (BTIC), a steel-cylinder manufacturer whose top trading partners are in the U.S.

The WTO ruling backed the Chinese argument that the tariff calculation method used by the United States against BTIC's goods was flawed.

A source familiar with the company's operations and who spoke Thursday with Caixin said the method could have tripled the tariffs imposed on cylinders exported to the U.S.

The WTO ruling ended one of many ongoing trade disputes between China and the U.S.

Earlier this month, the USTR Office said it was asking WTO to examine China's "unfair export restraints" concerning 11 raw materials, including copper, lead and tin.

Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com); editor Eric Johnson (ericjohnson@caixin.com)