BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) China followed Russia in requesting that a panel of experts be created in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Beijing's dispute with Washington over its additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Russia requested the establishment of an arbitration panel on Thursday. China made its request on the same day.
"The US steel and aluminum duties, explained by national security interests, in fact, represent trade protectionism and bring significant damage to international trade rules. A lot of WTO member states, including China, have opposed them," the ministry said.
The creation of an expert panel is a stage in the WTO dispute settlement procedure which is invoked if the parties fail to resolve their disagreements during bilateral consultations.
China and the United States are currently engaged in a major trade spat which followed the announcement of introduction of steel and aluminum import duties by US President Donald Trump in March. The tensions further heightened in late May when Washington announced that $50 billion worth of Chinese goods would be subject to 25 percent tariffs. Since then, the two countries have exchanged several rounds of trade duties against each other.
