美国诉中国稀土出口规制措施的法律争议评析

Study on Legal disputes of US Action against China's Rare Earth Export

WTO一审裁定中国对稀土等出口限制措施与WTO规则相抵触,这是继"原材料案"之后,中国在资源保护政策领域的又一次失利,美国等则可谓通过争端解决机制"一石击二鸟"。本案中,原被告围绕中国稀土出口限制措施的事实、法律实体和法律程序展开了激烈博弈;与此同时,裁判者内部对于相关法律问题的理解也开始出现分歧。本文对这起法律争议进行了评析,指出对中国而言,经历了WTO一系列败诉案例之后,对于自然资源出口的规制逻辑更应着眼于可持续发展和国际规则,以确保法律、政策和措施的合规性。

The WTO ruled that China＇s regulations on rare earth export are inconsistent with the WTO rules, evidencing another defeat of China following the case of ＂raw materials＂. The US and other accusing countries gained another success through the DSM. In this case, China and the US had a heated dispute over the fact, the legal substance and legal procedures of rare earth restriction. Meanwhile, the understanding of the relevant WTO legal issues began to diverge among the panel members. After losing a series of WTO cases, China＇s regulato- ry logic for natural resource exportation should focus more on sustainable development and international rules so as to ensure the compliance of Chinese legislation, policies and measures.