The World Trade Organization has ruled that US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, starting in 2018, violated global trade rules — in a rebuke of Donald Trump’s multiyear commercial confrontation with Beijing.
The decision by a panel of judges from the WTO’s dispute settlement body, which was revealed on Tuesday, found that the US had flouted its commitments to the Geneva-based trade body on several counts when it imposed levies on $360bn of Chinese imports.
The WTO panel ruled that US tariffs were discriminatory and excessive, and Washington did not justify an exemption that would have allowed them. It also rejected the US claim that it was pursuing a settlement with China outside the WTO, saying instead the negotiations between Washington and Beijing were parallel to the legal proceedings.