Washington, D.C. - The Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) today transmitted a decision regarding the United States’ Countervailing Duty Dispute with China. Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) and Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA), today reacted to the news:
Ranking Member Levin: “We will need to study the Appellate Body’s reasoning before reaching any conclusions, but the Appellate Body’s findings are deeply disappointing. The earlier panel report was well-reasoned. The Appellate Body’s findings will make it more difficult for market economy countries to confront the trade distortions inherent in the troubling trend toward ‘state capitalism.’"
Ranking Member McDermott: “Unfortunately, this is not the first time the Appellate Body has appeared to ignore the text of an agreement reached between WTO Members on issues related to trade remedies. I’ve only seen the preview of this decision, but I fear this is the same movie we saw in the zeroing cases. The WTO is an extremely important international institution. But Appellate Body overreach will only undermine confidence in the WTO as an institution - and will only make it more difficult to reach new agreements to liberalize trade."
