The EU has requested the establishment of a WTO panel on Chinese export restrictions on a number of key raw materials. European industries have raised concerns for a number of years on export restrictions – quotas, export duties and minimum export prices – which China applies on key raw materials, such as yellow phosphorous, bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon metal, silicon carbide and zinc.

Some of these resources cannot be found elsewhere. Restrictions on raw materials give Chinese companies an unfair advantage, as downstream industries in China have access to cheaper materials than their competitors outside China. The chemical, steel and non-ferrous metal industries, as well as their downstream clients, are the main sectors concerned. The EU considers that these restrictions are in violation not only of general WTO rules, but also of specific commitments that China signed up to as part of the WTO Accession Protocol, which set out either prohibitions against the use of export duties or strict caps on a limited number of products, as well as disciplining the use of export licensing and binding minimum export prices.

The panel requested focuses on a first batch of measures and products. However, the EU's concerns are not limited to these measures and further legal action cannot be ruled out if these concerns are not effectively addressed.