China seeks WTO nod for $2.4-bn retaliatory curbs againstamerica

China is seeking $2.4 billion in retaliatory sanctions against the United States for non-compliance with a WTO ruling in a tariffs case dating to the Obama era, a document published on Monday showed.

WTO appeals judges said in July that the United States did not fully comply with a WTO ruling and could face Chinese sanctions if it does not remove certain tariffs that break the watchdog’s rules. The WTO’S Dispute Settlement Body effectively gave Beijing a green light to seek compensatory sanctions in mid-august.

The United States said at the time that it did not view the WTO findings as valid and that the judges had applied “the wrong legal interpretation in this dispute”.

China continued to be the “serial offender” of the WTO’S subsidies agreement, the U.S. delegation said. Contacted by Reuters on Monday, the U.S. mission in Geneva had no immediate comment.

In addition to the cases pending before the WTO, the United States and China have imposed a series of tit-for-tat tariffs over the past 15 months that have roiled financial markets and resulted in a sharp drag on global economic growth. Alan Wolff, deputy director-general of the WTO, the highest-ranking American in the organization, declined to comment on the specific case at an event hosted by a Washington think tank.

But he said the fact that members continued to file cases with the WTO demonstrated their belief that the organization would ultimately resolve a current impasse over its dispute settlement process.