On February 2 and April 27, 2007, the United States requested consultations and supplemental consultations, respectively, with China regarding subsidies provided in the form of refunds, reductions, or exemptions from income taxes or other payments. Because they are offered on the condition that enterprises purchase domestic over imported goods, or on the condition that enterprises meet certain export performance criteria, these subsidies appear to be inconsistent with several provisions of the WTO Agreement, including Article 3 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Article III:4 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, and Article 2 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures, as well as specific commitments made by China in its WTO accession agreement. Mexico also initiated a dispute regarding the same subsidies.
Because consultations did not resolve the disputes, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, at the request of the United States and Mexico, established a single dispute settlement panel on August 31, 2007 to hear both disputes.
On December 19, 2007, the United States and China informed the DSB that they had reached an agreement with respect to this matter and circulated a copy of the agreement. The agreement calls for China to take certain steps, including the revision and repeal of certain existing measures as well as the adoption of new measures, that would eliminate by January 1, 2008 the import substitution and export subsidies challenged by the United States. The agreement also commits China not to reintroduce those subsidies or establish import substitution or export subsidies under its new income tax law that went into effect on January 1, 2008. Mexico reached a similar agreement with China with respect to Mexico’s dispute on the same subsidies.
