December 26, 2013

China to review tariffs on US chicken imports

In response to a WTO report, which found China guilty of violating trade regulations, the country's Ministry of Commerce decided to reinvestigate its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on US white-feathered broiler products.

The Ministry said that China will review the evidence and information collected during the previous investigation and re-examine them through surveys and hearings. Disputes over broiler chickens -- chickens which reach slaughter weight by about 13 weeks of age -- have been a major source of contention in the often tense trade relations between the world's two largest economies.

In September 2010, China imposed anti-dumping duties on chicken products imported from the US, claiming that the chicken products were subsidised in the US and then unloaded onto the Chinese market at a price less than the fair value.

Washington requested consultation with Beijing immediately after China imposed duties and then appealed to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in September 2011.

In September this year, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body adopted a panel report supporting China's arguments regarding determination of domestic industry and trade level differences.

WTO also upheld the US claims that China acted inconsistently with certain articles of the Anti-Dumping Agreement in conducting the investigations as well as in the calculation of the anti-dumping and countervailing duties.