September 21, 2011

US complains against China's poultry trade violations

The US filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as China went against international trade regulations when it imposed tariffs of approximately US$1 billion on US chicken exports.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said tariffs threaten 300,000 jobs in the US poultry industry. The tariffs ranged from 50-100%, which means that some Chinese importers paid twice the price for US chicken, a US trade official said.

The case is one of several that US trade officials have filed against China this year at the WTO. The US has also filed complaints about Chinese duties on steel products and its subsidies of wind power equipment.

It generally takes about 12-18 months for the WTO to resolve a trade dispute.