China files complaint at WTO over U.S. subsidies for electric vehicles

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China filed a complaint on Tuesday at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over U.S. subsidies for electric vehicles, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The complaint was filed to protect the interests of Chinese new energy vehicle enterprises and maintain an environment of fair competition in the global new energy vehicle industry, the ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. side introduced its Inflation Reduction Act and its implementation rules in the name of responding to climate change and environmental protection, formulated discriminatory subsidy policies for new energy vehicles, while excluding products from China and other WTO members and distorting fair competition, according to the statement.

The policies have seriously disrupted the global industrial and supply chains of new energy vehicles, and violated WTO rules such as national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment, which China firmly opposes, the statement said.

China firmly upholds the rules-based multilateral trading system and respects the legitimate rights of WTO members to implement industrial subsidies under the framework of rules to promote their own economic and social development, it said.

China urges the U.S. side to abide by WTO rules, respect the development trend of the global new energy vehicle industry, correct discriminatory industrial policies in a timely manner, and maintain the stability of the global industrial and supply chains of new energy vehicles, the statement added.