China complains to WTO of US tariffs

China filed a complaint with the WTO on Friday over US tariffs on 22 Chinese products including solar panels and steel pipes, Reuters reported. The US says the products, which account for US$7.3 billion of China’s exports, are unfairly priced and “dumped” on the US market. The complaint also covers wind towers, although the US is not set to decide on such tariffs until Wednesday. The US Trade Representative’s office said China is bringing the case prematurely to the WTO as the Commerce Department is working to address China’s issues after a previous ruling by the organization. China won a similar case before the WTO in 2011 that included woven sacks, tires and steel pipes. China filed the most recent complaint on the same day the WTO issued a confidential ruling on a case in which the US challenged the monopoly of UnionPay over Chinese electronic payments on behalf of US companies like Visa (V.NYSE) and MasterCard (MA.NYSE). The ruling will be made public in coming weeks.