Litigation next step in auto parts dispute

The US, the EU and Canada will ask the World Trade Organization to set up a dispute settlement panel to solve their ongoing concerns over violations and dumping of auto parts by China. Both the EU and the US said they would make the request Friday and Canada was expected to do the same, Reuters reported. This could become the first trade dispute with China to reach the litigation stage since Beijing joined the WTO in 2001. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the move could mark the beginning of more efforts to ensure China follows the rules and "should not be seen as a hostile act." The US and the EU asked Beijing in late March for talks on tariff policies which restrict access to China's US$19 billion auto parts market.