Instant International
Written by: Xu Yi'an and Liang Kaiyi
2020-09-15 22:36
Last update date: 2020-09-16 00:01
The World Trade Organization ruled on September 15 that the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese goods worth more than $200 billion were illegal.
Trump has launched tariff wars against different countries since he took office. This is the first time the WTO has ruled on related actions.
The Trump administration claimed that China's actions harmed the interests of the United States. The problems included the theft of intellectual property rights and technology transfer, and therefore imposed tariff sanctions.
The WTO ruling rejected Washington’s claim that the U.S. measures violated international trade rules because Washington failed to fully prove that Chinese goods subject to additional tariffs benefited from alleged unfair trade practices.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the WTO, claiming that the agency that monitors international trade disputes does not treat the United States fairly.
In theory, the WTO ruling allows China to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth billions of dollars.
However, the US government can appeal the decision of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and veto the ruling.
And because Washington has consistently refused to approve the appointment of new members of the Court of Appeal, the court is currently not functioning as usual, which means that the WTO is now only a "toothless tiger" and this ruling has no binding effect.
The picture shows on September 14, 2020, US President Trump returned to Washington from Phoenix.
(AP)
The US tariffs target two batches of Chinese goods.
In September 2018, the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese goods worth about US$200 billion, and raised the tax rate to 25% eight months later.
In June 2018, the United States imposed an additional 25% tariff on approximately $34 billion.
China counters Washington at WTO, saying that the U.S. is disrupting the global technology industry supply chain
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