WTO Rules That Chinese Export Restrictions Broke Trade Rules

Bulldozers scoop soil containing various rare-earth elements to be loaded onto a ship at the port in Lianyungang, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province, for export to Japan.

The World Trade Organization has upheld its ruling that Chinese restrictions on key raw material exports broke trade rules following an appeal by Beijing.

In July, the WTO ruled that China’s export controls on rare-earth elements and ore such as bauxite and magnesium broke international trade laws.

The complaint had been filed by the U.S., the European Union and Mexico in 2009.

They complained that Beijing’s measures to restrict the export of materials, which are used in applications ranging from mobile phones to medicine as well as steel, were driving up prices and were giving advantage to Chinese producers.

China is home to about 90 percent of the world’s discovered reserves of rare-earth minerals.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk hailed the ruling on January 30 as a "tremendous victory for the United States."

compiled from agency reports