Details of China's CV Duty WTO Complaint on Solar Cells, Wooden Bedroom Furniture, Etc.
China is challenging several aspects of U.S. countervailing duty proceedings before the World Trade Organization, including determinations of state ownership and control, treatment of Chinese export restraints as subsidies, and application of Adverse Facts Available (AFA), according to details of the May 25 Chinese request for consultations released by the WTO.
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China Attacks U.S. Determinations of Companies as Public Bodies, Disputes 'Rebuttable Presumption'
China said the "rebuttable presumption" established and applied by the International Trade Administration (i.e. the requirement that Chinese companies prove they are not a state-controlled “public body” in order to receive treatment as an individual exporter and not as part of the China-wide entity) is inconsistent with Articles 1.1, 10, and 32.1 of the SCM Agreement, and Article VI of the GATT 1994.
ITA Wrongly Countervails Cheap Inputs & Land, China Says
According to the complaint, the U.S. application of CV duties to countervail “less than adequate remuneration” subsidy programs (the provision of inputs or land to investigated companies by the state at a reduced price) was flawed, in part because the U.S. improperly determined that such subsidies (with respect to inputs) were provided by SOEs acting as “public bodies”. Furthermore, said China, the ITA did not prove such subsidies were specific to an enterprise or industry (or group of enterprises or industries) (with respect to inputs and land). China also disputed ITA findings that prevailing market conditions in China were "distorted" as the basis for rejecting actual transaction prices in China as benchmarks and determining that the subsidies conferred a benefit in the ITA’s calculation of less than adequate remuneration subsidies (with respect to inputs).
China also Challenges CV Duties on Export Restraints, ITA’s Use of AFA
China said the ITA improperly initiated CV duty investigations into allegations of export restraints allegedly maintained by China, because the ITA improperly determined that export restraints provided a "financial contribution".
Additionally, China said the ITA resorted to facts available, and used facts available, including adverse facts available, in manners that were inconsistent with U.S. WTO obligations.
22 CV Proceedings at Issue, Including Solar Cells, Wooden Bedroom Furniture, Etc.
According to the complaint, China specifically challenges the following 22 ITA CV determinations:
| CV Proceeding | ITA Case No. |
| Lightweight Thermal Paper | C-570-921 |
| Circular Welded Austenitic Stainless Pressure Pipe | C-570-931 |
| Certain Circular Welded Carbon Quality Steel Line Pipe | C-570-936 |
| Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts | C-570-938 |
| Certain Tow Behind Lawn Groomers and Certain Parts Thereof | C-570-940 |
| Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks | C-570-942 |
| Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods | C-570-944 |
| Pre-Stressed Concrete Steel Wire Strand | C-570-946 |
| Certain Steel Grating | C-570-948 |
| Wire Decking | C-570-950 |
| Certain Magnesia Carbon Bricks | C-570-955 |
| Certain Seamless Carbon and Alloy Steel Standard, Line, and Pressure Pipe | C-570-957 |
| Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses | C-570-959 |
| Drill Pipe | C-570-966 |
| Aluminum Extrusions | C-570-968 |
| Multilayered Wood Flooring | C-570-971 |
| Certain Steel Wheels | C-570-974 |
| Galvanized Steel Wire | C-570-976 |
| High Pressure Steel Cylinders | C-570-978 |
| Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules | C-570-980 |
| Utility Scale Wind Towers | C-570-982 |
| Drawn Stainless Steel Sinks | C-570-984 |
(See ITT's Online Archives 12052537 for summary of report by Xinhua that China had filed the complaint.)