The United States has set up a panel at the World Trade Organization to settle a dispute with China over Chinese tariffs on exports of 11 key raw materials. They include copper, graphite, lead and tin.
Washington says Chinese duties and quotas on such U.S. exports are unfair and discriminatory and make American products appear too expensive on the world market.
“We will aggressively pursue this challenge on behalf of U.S. steelworkers, auto workers, aerospace workers, and the many Americans whose businesses, jobs, and livelihoods depend on the strength of these and other industries,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Tuesday.
Froman's office says China is also a major producer of these raw materials and that its high tariffs on those produced by foreign nations are part of a “continuing troubling industrial policy” aimed at giving the Chinese a competitive advantage at others' expense.
The U.S. and China failed to resolve the dispute during a series of meetings in July.