China consults with US on GPX bill

China has consulted with the United States regarding its complaint against the latter's amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930, or the GPX bill, that passed earlier in the year, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday. China will decide whether to pass the case on to the WTO according to the results of talks held in Geneva on Monday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website. On Sept. 17, China filed a complaint to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body regarding the bill, which aims to clear legal obstacles for the United States to impose punitive tariffs on "non-market economy countries." The bill, which allows for a retroactive application period that goes back to 2006, was passed in March after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled last December that the U.S. Department of Commerce did not have the legal authority to launch countervailing probes against non-market economy countries. "Such practices have put Chinese enterprises in an uncertain legal environment, which violates WTO rules regarding transparency and procedural justice," the statement said. Despite a lack of legal support, the United States has launched more than 30 countervailing probes against Chinese exports since 2006, the statement said.