China threatens WTO action over paper tariffs

Beijing has threatened to take action against the US through WTO channels in response to the anti-dumping subsidy Washington imposed on Chinese paper exports, the Financial Times reported. It would be only the second time China has taken a complaint to the WTO since joining the organization in 2001. When the US introduced the "countervailing duties" May it broke a 23-year-old policy of not taking such action against countries it considers to be non-market economies. Officials claimed that China was not only dumping goods on the US – selling at a lower price in the US than in its domestic market – but also receiving tax breaks and low-cost loans from Beijing. The US will now enter into consultations with China and either withdraw the duties or move on to the WTO's dispute settlement panel. Separately, the US requested on Friday that a WTO dispute panel examine its claim that China is failing to enforce intellectual property rights.