China registers appeal against US electric vehicle subsidy

Asserting that Washington is enacting “discriminatory, protectionist” measures, China has filed an appeal against subsidies given to the US electric car sector under President Joe Biden’s green plan, the commerce ministry announced on Monday.

The second-biggest economy in the world filed the case with the World Trade Organisation in March, but after talks with Washington broke down, it requested the WTO to "set up a panel of experts" to look into the matter, according to the ministry.

The US planned a large-scale aid package in 2022 to help businesses in the energy transition industry and domestically produced electric vehicles.

China has constantly warned of retaliation to protect the legal rights and interests of its enterprises, and it has claimed that its industrial regulations are discriminatory.

Beijing's trade ministry said in a statement that "no matter how one tries to package and embellish this law, it cannot change the discriminatory, protectionist subsidies it asks for, which are in violation of WTO standards.”

Furthermore, it stated that the US law "pushes up the costs of the green energy transition, artificially sets trade barriers, and excludes products from China and other WTO members."

The WTO disagreement coincides with Beijing and Washington's ongoing trade spat on a range of topics, including customs tariffs, innovative technology, and the potential prohibition of the social media platform TikTok.

The trade ministry declared, "We once again urge the US to abide by WTO rules and stop abusing industrial policies to undermine international cooperation on climate change."

In May, the US said that it would double the customs tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles brought into the US. The US presidential campaign was centred around Beijing's economic rivalry.

In July, the European Union (EU) levied extra customs tariffs of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric car imports, which Brussels views as having unduly cheap pricing due to government subsidies.