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China – Tariff Rate Quotas for Certain Agricultural Products. Against the Grain: Can the WTO Open Chinese Markets? A Contaminated Experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2021

Joseph Glauber  and
Simon Lester
Joseph Glauber*
Affiliation:
International Food Policy Research Institute, CGIAR, Washington, USA
Simon Lester
Affiliation:
Cato Institute, Washington, USA
*
*Email: j.glauber@cgiar.org; slester@cato.org
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Abstract

The US complaint about Chinese tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on certain grain products helps illustrate several key issues in US–China trade relations and the effectiveness of WTO disputes. First, do international obligations based on transparency and fairness work in relation to an authoritarian country not known for the rule of law domestically? Second, can there be a disconnect between the legal aspects of a dispute and the underlying economic interests, with a DSB ruling sometimes not leading to improved trade flows? And third, given the bilateral trade war and ‘phase one’ trade deal between the United States and China, has the WTO been superseded in this trade relationship? This paper summarizes the facts and law of the China–TRQs dispute, and examines each of these questions in that context.

Keywords

WTOChinaDispute Settlement UnderstandingTariff Rate Quota Administration
Type
Original Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 20 , Special Issue 4: WTO Case Law , October 2021 , pp. 405 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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