THE US has been dealt a heavy blow by the World Trade Organisation that overturned its case to challenge the role in global commerce of state-owned companies in emerging economies.
The panel of WTO judges ruled against Washington in a row over the punitive tariffs it imposed on steel and other imports from China and India.
The US has long tried to build a case against Chinese state-owned enterprises, saying SOEs benefit from both overt and hidden subsidies that unfairly lower their costs of production, reported the London's Financial Times.
It has argued that those amount to government subsidies to China's exports, which are banned by the WTO.
Washington has also been pressing for tough rules governing the behaviour of SOEs in trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which it hopes to conclude with Japan and 10 other countries this year.
In the decision issued on Monday, the judges also ruled against the US in cases brought by China and India that disputed the way Washington imposed "countervailing duties" against alleged illegal subsidies by "public bodies".
Instead, the panel said, the US had to provide evidence that Chinese state-owned companies also performed "government functions" or exercised "government authority".
In a separate case before the trade body on Indian steel, judges threw out Washington's argument that supplies from state-owned iron ore and coal miners allowed Indian steel exporters to be treated as public bodies.
The Chinese ruling was welcomed by the Commerce Ministry in Beijing, which called on the US "to ensure an environment of fair competition for Chinese enterprises".
The US claimed a partial victory in both the Chinese and Indian cases in that the WTO rejected several of both countries' challenges to the punitive duties Washington imposes as a result of alleged subsidies.
The panel also upheld the use of third-country benchmarks, rather than actual transactions, to establish the true cost of exports from China.
WORLD SHIPPING
20 July 2014 - 16:36
China, India taste victory in state-owned company dispute with US
THE US has been dealt a heavy blow by the World Trade Organisation that overturned its case to challenge the role in global commerce of state-owned companies in emerging economies.
WORLD SHIPPING
20 July 2014 - 16:36
China, India taste victory in state-owned company dispute with US
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