US Dispute On Chinese Agriculture Quotas Likely On WTO Agenda

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is likely to agree on September 22 to the Trump administration's latest request that the WTO review whether Chinese trade policies unfairly harm U.S. farm exports.The Obama-era dispute alleged that the way Beijing applies its agricultural tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for rice, wheat, and corn imports violates WTO rules because it unfairly undermines the ability of U.S. farmers to export their grains.WTO, if it accepts the U.S. complaint, will determine whether China fulfilled its TRQ obligations and will evaluate U.S. allegations that China imposed “impermissible” restrictions on farm imports, failed to provide sufficient information about its import quantities, and didn't disclose changes to those import quotas. As part of China's WTO accession agreement, Beijing pledged to set specific TRQ levels for various products by applying a lower tariff rate to imports up to a certain quantity and then applying higher duties to imports that exceed the threshold.Beijing could be forced to accept increased amounts of U.S. grain imports or face retaliation from Washington, if the WTO finds that China's TRQ policies violate international rules.