GENEVA (Reuters) – China submitted a revised request for dispute settlement consultations with the United States to address new U.S. tariffs applied on goods originating in China, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday.
The Trump administration’s latest tariff hike on Chinese imports has heightened fears of a renewed trade war between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies.
China’s revised request comes after an extra 10% duty on Chinese goods took effect Tuesday, adding to the 10% tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on February 4.
Bilateral consultations are the first stage of formal dispute settlement. If within 60 days no solution is found, China could request adjudication by the Geneva-based organisation’s dispute settlement body.
On Wednesday, Canada also requested WTO consultations with the United States on “unjustified tariffs”.
Trump’s new 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico took effect on Tuesday, along with fresh duties on Chinese goods.
The moves, which could upend nearly $2.2 trillion in annual trade, came after Trump declared that the top three U.S. trading partners had failed to do enough to stem the flow of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the United States.
(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva; editing by Rachel More)
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