EU Commences WTO Proceeding Over China's Trade Restrictions On Lithuania

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2022) The European Commission announced Thursday that the European Union has filed an appeal against China with the World Trade Organization (WTO) for creating impediments hampering import of good from Lithuania.

"The EU has today launched a case at the WTO against the People's Republic of China over its discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania, which are also hitting other exports from the EU's Single Market," the European Commission's statement said.

The EU claims that starting December of last year, China, without informing Lithuania and the EU, began to "heavily restrict or de facto block" both imports and exports to Lithuania. Brussels believes that these artificially created impediments are "discriminatory and illegal under WTO rules," hampering exporters across the integrated European market.

"The EU is determined to act as one and act fast against measures in breach of WTO rules, which threaten the integrity of our Single Market," Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, said in the statement.

Dombrovskis stressed that the attempts to address the issue bilaterally have failed, thereby forcing the EU to resort to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, while "the diplomatic efforts to deescalate the situation" will remain, he said.

The first stage of the WTO dispute settlement entails request for consultations, under which the EU must formally seek more information on the issue from China. If these consultations produce no positive results within 60 days, the EU may demand forming a commission to adjudicate the matter.

The relations between China and Lithuania deteriorated as Taiwan opened its official representative office in Vilnius last November. The Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged a protest to Lithuania and later downgraded the bilateral relations to the level of charges d'affaires. The United States has also raised concerns over China not allowing Lithuanian goods into the country and rejecting Lithuanian import applications.