Tausi Insider

China has launched a trade dispute at the World Trade Organization against the United States over its chip export control measures, China’s commerce ministry said. The United States passed a sweeping set of regulations in October aimed at kneecapping China’s semiconductor industry, prompting a complaint from a top China trade group. “China takes legal actions within the WTO framework as a necessary way to address our concerns and to defend our legitimate interests,” said a statement by China’s commerce ministry, its diplomatic mission in Geneva relayed. It added that the U.S. curbs “threatened the stability of the global industrial supply chains.” The office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. A WTO spokesperson declined to comment. The so-called request for consultations is the first step in a long procedure at the global trade body. The United States has blocked appointments to the WTO’s top ruling body on trade disputes, me...

World Trade Organization arbitrators concluded Wednesday that the United States was out of line in requiring products from Hong Kong to be labelled as “Made in China,” a move that was part of Washington’s response to a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters there in 2019 and 2020. A WTO dispute panel found the U.S. violated its obligations under the trade body’s rules and rejected Washington’s argument that U.S. “essential security interests” allowed for such labelling. The panel said the situation did not pose an “emergency” that would allow for an exemption under the trade body’s rules. The United States or Hong Kong could appeal the ruling to the WTO’s appeals court. However, the Appellate Body is currently inactive because the U.S. has almost single-handedly held up appointments of new members to the court amid concerns it had strayed beyond its mandate. As a result, any such appeal would go into an arbitration void and remain unsettled. The United States trade representative’s of...