U.S. Violated Trade Rules With Tariffs on China, WTO Says

[Claustrum]

Source: Bloomberg

The World Trade Organization undercut the main justification for President Donald Trump's trade war against China, saying that American tariffs on Chinese goods violate international rules.

A panel of three WTO trade experts on Tuesday said the U.S. broke global regulations when it imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018. Washington has imposed levies on $400 billion in Chinese exports.

The panel said in its report "that the United States had not met its burden of demonstrating that the measures are provisionally justified."

While the ruling bolsters Beijing's claims, Washington can effectively veto the decision by lodging an appeal at any point in the next 60 days. That's because the Trump administration has already paralyzed the WTO's appellate body, a tactic that has rendered toothless the world's foremost arbiter of trade.



Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-15/wto-rules-that-u-s-tariffs-on-china-violate-trade-rules-kf4189y0

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Just heard this on a foreign news broadcast. Is this reported in the US cable news yet? Will Trump be required to respond or is this something that they can ignore again?

[Bayard]

1. Rules?

We don't need no stinkin' rules!

[still_one]

2. No problem, trump will leave the WTO, and NATO, and become part of the Soviet Union

[sakabatou]

3. Like he gives a shit!

[aggiesal]

4. I don't particularly like that the WTO can take our soverignty, so screw your judgement. ...

These experts are Corporate trade experts, so they will always side with corporations.

I don't like that Pendejo45 created this mess, but let us fix it our way.
I don't need the WTO to tell us what to do.

[Claustrum]

5. So it's fine for us to condemn and interject ourselves into other countries

when they violate human rights etc. But they have no say when we do something wrong?

[aggiesal]

6. This has nothing to do with human rights, completely separate issue ...

This has to do with judges that have nothing to do with people, but only looks at trade.

They circumvent our laws to make corporations more powerful than countries.

Condemning and interjecting into other countries human rights violations are country .vs. country issues, at a human level.

This trade decision has the guise of being country .vs. country, but I'll guarantee you that this has
more to do with corporations right to trade freely wherever they want, regardless of local laws.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Do you really think Trump was concerned about corporations having too much freedom?

Really? Really?

I cannot for the life of me think why you would ignore all his anti-China rhetoric, designed to get him the protectionist and racist vote, and instead say it's not about the country, it's about corporations. Jeez, I don't even think he's tried to say that yet. But maybe he will now if he hears there are people on the left who say they could believe it.

[aggiesal]

10. My opinion is not about Trump being concerned about corporations having too much freedom ...

this is about an organization (the WTO) with corporations appointing 3 corporate lawyers as judges, that will rule on the side of corporations every time.

Stop making this about Trump. He policies suck, to be sure.

This is about sovereignty of nations and their ability to create laws that affect their nation, against the ability of the WTO to hold a court with corporate assigned judges and find any laws that limits trade and will rule on the side of corporations over country, every time.

As an example, the U.S. passed a law, U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, to protect dolphins. If a country exporting tuna to the U.S. cannot prove to U.S. authorities that it meets the dolphin protection standards set out in U.S. law, the U.S. would embargo the imports (i.e. no importing tuna if catching the tuna kills dolphins).
Mexico sued the U.S. on behalf of the corporation exporting the tuna.

Guess who the WTO ruled in favor of?

We as a country are no longer allowed to pass laws that limit the free trade of any product, even if it is to protect life.

I'm against the WTO stripping OUR sovereignty (OUR ability to govern ourselves) in favor of free trade by corporations over any nation's laws.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. This is about the tariffs Trump started, for his political fight with China, not dolphins

I'm not making it about Trump; the whole world, apart it seems from you, knows it's about Trump.

Read the article. Read the news in the past 3 years. It seems you haven't.

[aggiesal]

12. With the WTO it is always about sovereignty ...

Trump is our problem.
We need to vote him out of office, and the problem will take care of itself.

We don't need the WTO to tell us what to do.

[Judi Lynn]

7. WTO says U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods violated international trade rules

Amanda Macias 8 hrs ago

The World Trade Organization ruled Tuesday that additional tariffs imposed in 2018 by the United States on Chinese goods violated international trading rules, a blow to the Trump administration's trade war against the world's second-largest economy.

A three-person panel of WTO trade experts said Washington broke with global regulations in 2018 when it slapped more than $200 billion in levies on a slew of Chinese goods. Since March 2018, the United States has imposed tariffs on $400 billion in Chinese exports.




© Provided by CNBC US President Donald Trump and Chinas Vice Premier Liu He, the country's top trade negotiator, hold a press conference before they sign a trade agreement with the US and China during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 15, 2020.

NEW YORK — The World Trade Organization ruled Tuesday that additional tariffs imposed in 2018 by the United States on Chinese goods violated international trading rules, a blow to the Trump administration's trade war against the world's second-largest economy.

A three-person panel of WTO trade experts said Washington broke with global regulations in 2018 when it slapped more than $200 billion in levies on a slew of Chinese goods. Since March 2018, the U.S. has imposed tariffs on $400 billion in Chinese exports.

More:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/wto-says-us-tariffs-on-chinese-goods-violated-international-trade-rules/ar-BB194glM?li=BBnb7Kz

(He's smooth, isn't he? Look at that professional "poker face." )

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. They can ignore it, because Trump has sabotaged the appeals mechanism

(not just for US-related decisions, of course - he's sabotaged it for everyone). From later in the article:

Since the Trump administration has refused to appoint new members to the WTO’s appellate body, the next step could involve the U.S. simply appealing this panel report “into the void,” effectively ending the legal nature of this dispute, said Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

The WTO Appellate Body Crisis: How We Got Here and What Lies Ahead?

The Appellate Body is an important element of the Dispute Settlement System of the World Trade Organization (WTO), hearing appeals against the findings of the panel established by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The Appellate Body (AB) ideally consists of seven members including the Chairman. But on 10th December 2019, this body went into crisis as two out of its three remaining members’ four-year terms came to an end. In this article, the authors dive into this crisis and try to analyze what led to such an impasse, and what political, economic, or social factors have influenced what is happening now in the dispute settlement mechanism. Also, how much the current administration of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is responsible for this crisis shall be addressed. Further, the authors will consider what steps forward should be taken towards an amicable solution so that the Appellate Body can operate as a functional and fair part of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement System.

The United States of America and the protectionist agenda-driven regime under President Trump is to blame for the crisis in the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) given the Appellate Body not having an adequate number of members. The United States is blocking the appointment of new members to the Appellate Body (AB). The US Ambassador to the WTO stated that the US does not approve the appointment of new persons to the vacant Appellate Body seats. However, this is not the first time this has happened. The Obama administration, blocked the appointment of Jennifer Hillman for a second term in 2011, claiming the WTO has failed to protect American interests. Again in 2016, the US blocked the reappointment of Seung Wha Chang. Thereafter, in 2018, the Trump administration blocked the reappointment of Shri Baboo Chekitan Servasing.

Shockingly, the United States has played such a central role in dismantling the DSS and plunging it into paralysis but simultaneously promotes itself as the primary advocate of the multilateral trading system. The US claims that the Appellate Body functions in a manner that is actively unfair and detrimental to its interests.

One of the United States’ main accusations against the Appellate Body is that it has overstepped its jurisdiction time and again, creating law and indulging in “Judicial Activism”. According to the US, the AB is creating new rules, which cannot be done, as the recommendations and rulings “cannot add to or diminish the rights and obligations provided in the covered agreements”, as per Article 3.2 of the DSU.

https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/04/rathore-bajpai-wto-appellate-body-crisis/