WTO appoints panel to probe China, US trade disputes

The World Trade Organization on Monday established a panel to look into a complaint from China against the United States in connection with a string of trade disputes between the two countries.

China had asked the WTO to examine the legality of the more than 30 anti-subsidy investigations the United States has launched since 2006 against Chinese products, "affecting more than $7.3 billion in total."

According to Beijing, the probes aimed at determining if Chinese exports are unfairly subsidised or break anti-dumping rules are illegal since "US countervailing duty laws do not apply to countries that the US designates as non-market economies."

Washington has repeatedly insisted that the probes are in line with WTO rules, and argues that they are needed to counter-balance illegal Chinese subsidies in several industries.

The WTO said the new panel would look into the dispute and publish its conclusion within a few months.