WTO Tells China to Tax U.S.
Now Beijing must decide how to use this opportunity to its advantage in U.S.-China trade war discussions
On Friday, November 1st, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that China is allowed to put $3.6 billion in tariffs on U.S. imports, bringing this six-year arbitration to an end. It is the first decision that China won in front of the WTO and the third-largest settlement awarded in WTO history. These tariffs are also completely outside of the ongoing trade war between China and the United States, and now everyone is watching to see how they will impact the negotiations.
This ruling was not a surprise. In May 2017, the WTO made an initial ruling in favor of China. The WTO determined that the United States was unfairly taxing 40 Chinese products entering the United States market. In November 2019, the list was reduced to 25 items and the damages assessed totaled $3.6 billion.
Impacts on trade talks
The United States and China are locked in a trade war that started in 2018. Since it began, the two sides imposed more than $735 billion in tariffs on each other, leaving global supply chains in shambles. Right now, the two sides are at the negotiating table working on Phase 1 of a trade deal that would at least prevent this trade war from…
