EU Requests WTO Panel: Chinese Export Restrictions
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.