U.S. Requests Dispute Settlement Panel in China Trade Barrier Case
The U.S. has requested that the WTO establish a dispute settlement panel in its case challenging China’s restrictions on the importation and distribution of films, DVDs, music and other copyright-intensive products. The U.S. seeks to eliminate barriers to the importation and internal distribution of U.S. audio-visual products. These barriers make it difficult to for U.S. companies to get their legitimate products into the Chinese marketplace, thereby fostering the market for pirated products.
The U.S. panel request focuses on Chinese laws and regulations that deny U.S. companies the right to import books, journals, movies, music, and videos into China; discriminate against U.S. distributors in China; and impede the distribution of these products. The panel request alleges that these restrictions violate various provisions of China’s Protocol of Accession to the WTO, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the “GATT”), and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (the “GATS”). The panel request will be considered by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) at its next meeting on October 22.
A statement by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative explained, “The United States and China have tried, through formal consultations over the last several months, to address U.S. concerns about the importation and distribution barriers that U.S. movies, music and publications face in China. Those discussions have unfortunately not led to a resolution of our concerns, and so we are now taking the next step in this case and asking the WTO to establish a panel.”U