The New York Times Quotes Clete Willems on WTO Decision to Permit Chinese Sanctions on US Goods

The New York Times has quoted Clete Willems, partner in the public law and policy practice at Akin Gump, in the article “W.T.O. Allows China to Impose Trade Sanctions on U.S. Goods.” The article reports on a decision by the World Trade Organization giving China permission to impose sanctions on up to $3.6 billion of American goods in a fight over unfairly cheap Chinese products.

At issue, according to the Times, are subsidies that Washington has accused Beijing of providing to its companies in order to sell goods more cheaply overseas. To prevent this from happening, the United States imposed “anti-dumping duties” on those products, but a WTO decision in 2017 found that the United States had violated WTO rules in how it imposed the duties, paving the way for the decision to allow China to try to recoup some of the losses it sustained.

Willems, who joined Akin Gump earlier this year after serving as a top White House trade negotiator, said the ruling exemplified some of the administration’s most significant concerns about the WTO, including its failure to come to terms with the role of the state in China’s economy.

“As a result, China is permitted to get away with behavior that wouldn’t be tolerated in any normal market economy,” said Willems. “The ruling defangs our ability to counteract subsidies provided by Chinese state-owned enterprises.”