Washington has appealed against a World Trade Organization ruling that faulted US duties imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese goods during the trade wars between the two giants.
The United States announced its decision to appeal during a meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body.
A US representative asserted that the panel ruling was based on legal errors, insisting that China’s unfair trade practices had cost US innovators, workers and businesses billions of dollars every year.
The DSB verdict marked one of the first in a series of anticipated panel rulings over complaints filed by a long line of countries over US President Donald Trump’s decision to hit them with steep tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
Washington accuses the court of major overreach and has blocked the appointment of new judges, leaving it without the required quorum.
By filing an appeal with nowhere for the appeal to be heard, Washington has in effect blocked China’s ability to move forward and request financial compensation for the US activities deemed illegal by the DSB.
There are currently 16 appeals pending in the WTO system with nowhere to go.
