On January 27, 2022, the European Union requested consultations with China with regard to measures allegedly imposed by or attributable to China on the importation of goods from, and exportation of goods to, the European Union and on trade in services between the European Union and China.
The European Union claimed that the measure or series of measures at issue appear to be inconsistent with:
• Articles I:1, V:6, X:3(a), XI:1, and XVII of the GATT 1994;
• Article 1.2 of China's Accession Protocol, in conjunction with paragraphs 46 and 342 of the Report of the Working Party on the Accession of China;
• Articles 7 and 10 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement;
• Articles 2 and 8 and paragraph 1(a) of Annex C of the SPS Agreement; and
• Articles II:1, VIII, XI:1, XVI, and XVII:1 of the GATS.
On February 8, 2022, Australia requested to join the consultations. On February 9, 2022, Chinese Taipei requested to join the consultations. On February 10, 2022, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States requested to join the consultations.
On December 7, 2022, the European Union requested the establishment of a panel. At its meeting on December 20, 2022, the DSB deferred the establishment of the panel. At its meeting on January 27, 2023, the DSB established a panel. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, the Russia, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam reserved their third-party rights. During the composition process, the parties agreed on the nominations of two members of the panel, but could not agree on the third member. On April 4, 2023, the European Union requested the Director-General to compose the panel. On April 18, 2023, the Director-General determined the composition of the panel, including the two members whose nominations were agreed by the parties.
On July 4, 2023, the European Union and China informed the DSB that they had agreed to Procedures for Arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU in this dispute. Such procedures were entered into by the European Union and China to give effect to the communication JOB/DSB/1/Add.12 (“Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement Pursuant to Article 25 of the DSU (MPIA)”) and with the objective of setting a framework for an Arbitrator to decide on any appeal from any final panel report issued in this dispute, if the Appellate Body is not able to hear such an appeal under Articles 16.4 and 17 of the DSU.
| Brief Date | Brief Description |
|---|---|
| 01/12/2024 | U.S. Third-Party Executive Summary |
| 12/18/2023 | U.S. Third-Party Answers to Panel Questions |
| 11/28/2023 | U.S. Third-Party Oral Statement |
| 11/09/2023 | U.S. Third-Party Submission |
| 09/22/2023 | U.S. Comments on China’s Request for Preliminary Findings |
