WASHINGTON — U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced April 18 that a World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel agreed with the United States that China has administered its tariff-rate quotas (T.R.Q.s) for wheat, corn, and rice inconsistently with its W.T.O. commitments.
Mr. Lighthizer and Mr. Perdue said China’s grain T.R.Q. administration was not transparent, predictable, or fair, and it has inhibited T.R.Q.s from filling, denying U.S. farmers access to China’s market for grain. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that if China’s T.R.Q.s had been fully used, China would have imported as much as $3.5 billion worth of corn, wheat and rice in 2015 alone.