Taiwan, Japan, the US, the UK, Australia and Canada have asked to join talks about the EU’s complaint to the WTO over China’s economic sanctions against Lithuania, said the global trade agency on Friday.
The EU first brought the case to the WTO on Jan. 27, saying it had a wealth of evidence that China had been economically pressuring Lithuania for allowing a Taiwanese representative office to be established in Vilnius.
Chinese actions against Lithuania include “a refusal to clear Lithuanian goods through customs, rejection of import applications from Lithuania and pressuring EU companies operating out of other EU Member States to remove Lithuanian inputs from their supply chains when exporting to China,” the EU said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwan and Australia aside, the states are G7 members, with EU members France, Germany and Italy making up the remainder.
“This case is important for most WTO members. The world’s most powerful economies, including all members of the G7, have joined forces against China’s illegal actions that threaten the entire international trading system,” Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis said.
The refusal of customs clearance for goods not only threatens the EU’s domestic and foreign supply chains, but also affects Taiwan’s foreign trade, a source cited the letter as saying.
The WTO said that according to regulations, the first stage of talks must be between the two parties directly involved in the conflict — in this case the EU and China.
If no consensus is reached within 60 days, the talks would enter the second stage, at which time the EU could form a dispute-resolution panel with third parties, it said.
In a statement to the WTO on Friday, the EU said that China’s actions toward Lithuania constitute “discriminatory trade,” and that such actions have already affected the entire EU supply chain.
However, the EU has also said that despite evidence China contravened WTO rules, it would continue to seek a diplomatic solution, because China is an “important partner” of the EU.
Additional reporting by AP
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