China on Monday lambasted a WTO ruling in a row with the US over Washington’s measures to limit the import of solar panel cells, calling it “erroneous and dangerous.”
A WTO panel handed a victory to the US earlier this month, rejecting all four of China’s claims and saying that the US measures did not breach global trade rules.
China last week said that it would appeal the decision.
At the private meeting, China’s delegate expressed “deep concern with the systematically harmful findings made by the panel report,” a statement released by the Chinese delegation said.
“The erroneous and dangerous signal sent by this panel report to WTO members will lead to the abuse of safeguard measures and thus seriously undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system,” the statement said, adding that the ruling could encourage protectionism.
The US in 2018 imposed tariffs and a quota after US producers complained that imports of some crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells posed a risk to the US domestic industry.
The “safeguard” measures are due to be in place for four years, with annual reductions in the duty rates from an initial 30 percent.
The duties have applied to solar modules and, beyond a set quota, to solar cells.
China’s appeal will have no immediate effect, as the top WTO dispute settlement body does not have enough judges to function.
That is because the administration of former US president Donald Trump blocked judge appointments to the body and paralyzed its functions.
“The United States is disappointed that China has now decided to press onward by appealing the panel report in spite of overwhelming evidence of the damaging effects of China’s non-market practices,” the US delegate said at the meeting.
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