US files WTO case against China on Grain tariff rate quota

The US today filed a case against China before the World Trade Organisation on charges that the Communist giant has breached the grain tariff quotas for rice, wheat and corn.
"China's TRQ policies breach their WTO commitments and limit opportunities for US farmers to export competitively priced, high-quality grains to customers in China. The United States will aggressively pursue this challenge on behalf of American rice, wheat, and corn farmers," US Trade Representative Mike Froman said.
The complaint filed by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) charges that China's administration of its tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for these commodities breaches China's WTO commitments and undermines American farm exports.

In the 15th trade enforcement challenge that it has launched against China at the WTO, the USTR challenged China to hold to its trade commitments and help level the playing field for American rice, wheat, and corn farmers.
The US Department of Agriculture estimates that China's TRQs for these commodities were worth over USD 7 billion in 2015.
If the TRQs had been fully used, China would have imported as much as USD 3.5 billion worth of additional crops last year alone, it said.

"Real access under tariff-rate quotas is vital to global trade and to providing our farmers and ranchers the opportunity to export high-quality, American-grown products to the world," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"Although China has become a significant market for our grain exports, we could be doing much better than we are today. When China joined the WTO, it committed to implementing an agriculture regime that would facilitate market access consistent with international obligations. However, China has frustrated exporters through generous price support and unjustified market restrictions," Vilsack said.
"Taking action against grain price supports was one piece of the puzzle, and now we must confront China's improper administration of its TRQs to ensure that our grains have the meaningful market access that China bound itself to as a member of the WTO. Today's announcement is another step towards advocating for fairness in the global trading system on behalf of American farmers," he added.

Separately USTR also announced today that it has requested that the WTO establish a dispute settlement panel to examine China'slevel of domestic support for Chinese producers of rice, wheat, and corn.
USTR launched a WTO challenge on this matter in September 2016, noting that China's market price support for these commodities was estimated to be nearly USD 100 billion in excess of its WTO commitments.
According to USTR's analysis, China's domestic support measures and non-transparent TRQ regime work together to distort global markets for wheat, rice and corn.
Compliance with WTO rules would lead to a reduction in the excessive domestic support provided to China's grains producers to bring Chinese production in line with market forces, and improvements to China's TRQ administration would facilitate market access for US and other exporters of these commodities, a statement said.