The World Trade Organisation said on Monday that it had agreed to establish expert panels to examine two separate trade disputes, both involving Canada and China.

The WTO said in a statement that its Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) had agreed during a meeting to create a panel to rule on a complaint from Beijing over “surtax measures imposed by Canada” on electric vehicles and steel and aluminium products of Chinese origin.

Another panel would meanwhile be set up to examine a Canadian complaint over import duties imposed by China on certain Canadian agricultural and fisheries products, it said.

Beijing in March slapped a 100 percent surcharge on rapeseed oil, oil cakes — a type of animal feed — and peas imported from Canada.

China said the move was a response to Ottawa’s decision last year to place 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, matching US measures seeking to fend off a flood of Chinese state-subsidised cars into North America.

During Monday’s DSB meeting, China said it considered Canada’s measures inconsistent with provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), WTO said, adding that the Chinese representative was “open to constructive discussions and remains committed to resolving the dispute”.

Canada’s representative had meanwhile said it was “unfortunate that China has included in its panel request claims related to certain solar products, critical minerals, semiconductors, permanent magnets and natural graphite imported from China”, insisting that “there are no Canadian surtax measures on these products”.

Canada had also maintained that the import duties imposed by China “represented a unilateral determination and trade countermeasures contrary to WTO rules”, and had stressed its commitment to “constructive dialogue” to resolve the dispute, the global trade body said.

Ties between Beijing and Ottawa have been tense in recent years following the arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US warrant in 2018.

But the two countries agreed earlier this month to regularise channels of communication, following a call between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang.

AFP