The World Trade Organisation （WTO） has issued a confidential preliminary ruling in a landmark case against China’s export restrictions on raw materials used to manufacture steel, aluminum and chemical products.
The United States, European Union and Mexico launched the case in 2009, complaining that Chinese export restrictions on minerals such as bauxite and magnesium discriminated against foreign manufacturers and gave an unfair advantage to domestic producers.
Beijing has argued it needed to restrict exports of the raw materials for environmental reasons.
"Under WTO rules, this interim report is confidential and we cannot comment on its contents at this time," a spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative’s Office, Nefeterius McPherson, said.
"The report will be made public when it is circulated to WTO members. We currently expect the final report to be circulated sometime in late spring or early summer of 2011," McPherson added.
The US, European Union and Mexico argue that China’s export curbs violated both general WTO rules and specific commitments that Beijing made when it joined the world trade body in 2001.
The case does not cover China’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals used in smart phones, electric car motors and high-tech industrial equipment which have also raised concern in the US, EU and Japan.（The Nation）
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