Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, July 31, 2002
China Prepares Submission to Steel Case Panel
China is preparing a submission to a World Trade Organization panel considering the protectionist measures taken by the US government on steel imports earlier this year, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said Tuesday.
The panel, comprising three experts from Iceland, India and Singapore, was appointed by WTO director-general on July 25.
The panel would be responsible for dispute examinations on the basis of the timetable set by the parties and the rules of the dispute settlement mechanism.
Through the mechanism, China would make full use of its rights to safeguard the legal interests of Chinese enterprises and industries, ministry spokeswoman Gao Yan.
Armed with facts and detailed legal grounds, China would make clear the US measures on steel products amounted to protectionism,which conflicted with WTO rules and the trade liberalization goal raised in the trade minister declaration of the WTO's Doha meeting.
"China has asked the panel to make relevant suggestions and findings," she said.
China's request for a panel on the steel dispute was its first use of the mechanism for a bilateral trade dispute solution since its WTO entry, she said, noting this was an important right of WTOmembership.