WTO knocks down China’s green defense of trade limits

The World Trade Organization found Tuesday that China’s export constraints on raw materials violate international trade rules, handing a win to the U.S. and other nations that challenged the restrictions.

The WTO panel concluded that China’s defense of the limits on the grounds of resource conservation and pollution reduction weren't convincing.

The Hill’s On The Money blog explores the WTO ruling here; here are two key paragraphs from the WTO findings:

In particular, China had argued in its defence that some of its export duties and quotas were justified because they related to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources for some of the raw materials. But China was not able to demonstrate that it imposed these restrictions in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption of the raw materials so as to conserve the raw materials. The Panel acknowledged, however, that China appears to be heading in the right direction in adopting a framework to justify its quotas under WTO rules, but that the framework is not yet WTO-consistent as it still has to be put into effect for domestic producers.

As for other of the raw materials, China had claimed that its export quotas and duties were necessary for the protection of the health of its citizens.  China was unable to demonstrate that its export duties and quotas would lead to a reduction of pollution in the short- or long-term and therefore contribute towards improving the health of its people.