INTRODUCTION

Complaint by China

On 25 May 2012, China requested consultations with the United States under Article 4 of the DSU, Article XXIII:1 of GATT 1994, and Article 30 of the SCM Agreement with respect to the United States’ countervailing duty measures on certain products from China as described in document WT/DS437/1.

Consultations were held on 25 June 2012 and 18 July 2012 with a view to reaching a mutually satisfactory solution. These consultations clarified certain issues pertaining to this matter, but failed to resolve the dispute.

Panel Establishment and Composition

On 20 August 2012, China requested the establishment of a panel pursuant to Article 6 of the DSU with standard terms of reference. At its meeting on 28 September 2012, the DSB established a panel pursuant to the request of China in document WT/DS437/2, in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU.

The Panel's terms of reference are the following:

On 14 November 2012, China requested the Director-General to determine the composition of the panel, pursuant to Article 8.7 of the DSU. On 26 November 2012, the Director-General accordingly composed the Panel as follows:

Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Norway, the Russian Federation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia), Turkey and Viet Nam notified their interest in participating in the Panel proceedings as third parties.

Panel

Proceedings General

After consultation with the parties, the Panel adopted its Working Procedures and timetable on 19 December 2012. Following its adoption, the Panel introduced subsequent modifications to its timetable.