USTR: Washington, Beijing Clinch Deal in Export Subsidy Dispute

Washington and Beijing have reached a deal in their dispute ( DS489 ) over China’s allegedly export-contingent subsidy programme, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The news, announced on Thursday 14 April, comes over a year after the US filed a WTO complaint challenging the “Demonstration Bases-Common Service Platform” programme. At the time, the US claimed that these were tantamount to export subsidies, which are prohibited under global trade rules. (See Bridges Weekly, 12 February 2015 ) While a dispute panel was established in April 2015 to hear the case, talks between the two sides continued in an effort to find a mutually acceptable solution, according to US officials. The WTO website notes that while the DSB has agreed to create a panel, the panellists have not yet been chosen. (See Bridges Weekly, 23 April 2015 ) The Office of the USTR has also released a copy of the “ memorandum of understanding ” reached by the two trading giants, as well as a table outlining the various “instruments” that had been challenged in the original case, with updates on their individual statuses. From agriculture to textiles The dispute had specifically targeted demonstration bases – in...