The World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Tuesday it concluded that the United States tariffs on Chinese products violate trade rules.
The WTO noted that the US argued that the additional duties on over $200 billion worth of Chinese goods imposed in 2018 and 2019 were "justified" under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), as "measures necessary to protect US public morals." However, the WTO ruled that they were "inconsistent" with GATT because they only applied to Chinese products and "were applied in excess of the rates to which the United States bound itself in its Schedule of Concessions."
The trade body's panel added the US failed to explain how the additional tariffs were "apt to contribute to the public morals objective invoked" and, therefore, concluded they were not justified.
