The United States denied a request made by China to participate in World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations regarding tariffs imposed on Brazil. According to WTO rules, the countries involved in these consultations, such as Brazil and the US, must grant permission for a third member to participate, in this case, China.
The American position was formalized in a communication sent by the US delegation to China on September 21 and subsequently distributed to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. In this document, the US mentioned receiving a letter from China dated August 6, in which Beijing asked to join the consultations initiated by Brazil.
The United States argued that the consultation request presented by Brazil does not refer to any action, policy, or practice of China, nor to any tariffs applied to products originating from China. For this reason, Washington declared that it did not consider the Chinese claim of having a significant commercial interest in the discussions valid.
The communication sent to the Chinese delegation clearly stated: 'The United States is, therefore, rejecting your request to participate in these consultations.' In August, China had justified its request by alleging a 'substantial commercial interest' in the negotiations between the two countries.
Brazil brought the WTO into play in July against two tariffs applied during the Donald Trump administration. One of these tariffs was 25%, imposed because Washington believed that Brazil was using unfair practices against American companies. Additionally, the US applied 12.5% tariffs to Brazil, along with other tariffs on dozens of nations that allegedly failed to monitor imports made with forced labor.
China emphasized, in its August request, that such measures impacted its exports to the American market, except for some specific items, and modified the competitive conditions for Chinese products due to the additional taxes imposed.