China Loses Appeal to WTO Over US Tariffs on Chinese Tires

China has lost its appeal of a World Trade Organization ruling that the United States can raise import taxes on Chinese tires by as much as 35 per cent.

A WTO appeals panel said on Sep. 5, 2011 that U.S. officials "acted consistently" with international trade laws, the latest in a series of trade skirmishes between the United States — the world's biggest importer — and China — the world's biggest exporter.

China argued the three-year tariff President Barack Obama approved in 2009 on top of a regular 4 per cent import duty was protectionist and would hurt China's tire industry.

The United Steelworkers Union pushed for penalty tariffs, blaming the loss of 5,000 U.S. tire workers' jobs since 2004 on U.S. tire imports from China more than tripling from 2004 to 2008.