摘要
On March 26, 2014, a panel established circulated its final report regarding the China by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, -- Rare Earths ease to WTO Members. This dispute concerns China＇s export restrictions on rare earths, tungsten, and molybdenum. In its report, the panel agreed with the findings of another dispute, the China -- Raw Materials case. It concluded that the environmental exceptions under Article XX GATT 1994 cannot be applied to China＇s actions. This conclusion is reconfirmed in the latest appellate body＇s report of China -- Rare Earths on August 7, 2014. Therefore, China was not able to justify the violation of their WTO-plus obligation to eliminate all export duties, contained in paragraph 11.3 of China＇s Accession Protocol As a consequence of the panel＇s decision, it seems impossible for China to justify trade barriers with environmental interests and to invoke any exceptions. Such findings are subject to a fundamental controversy within the WTO multilateral trade system, trying to solve the tensions between environmental protection and trade liberalization.
On March 26, 2014, a panel established circulated its final report regarding the China by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, -- Rare Earths ease to WTO Members. This dispute concerns China＇s export restrictions on rare earths, tungsten, and molybdenum. In its report, the panel agreed with the findings of another dispute, the China -- Raw Materials case. It concluded that the environmental exceptions under Article XX GATT 1994 cannot be applied to China＇s actions. This conclusion is reconfirmed in the latest appellate body＇s report of China -- Rare Earths on August 7, 2014. Therefore, China was not able to justify the violation of their WTO-plus obligation to eliminate all export duties, contained in paragraph 11.3 of China＇s Accession Protocol As a consequence of the panel＇s decision, it seems impossible for China to justify trade barriers with environmental interests and to invoke any exceptions. Such findings are subject to a fundamental controversy within the WTO multilateral trade system, trying to solve the tensions between environmental protection and trade liberalization.
