The United States said Friday it had taken trade disputes with China over US steel imports and electronic payment services to the World Trade Organisation. The US requested the Geneva-based WTO to establish two panels to settle the disputes, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement.
The WTO action marked an escalation in the long-running list of trade disputes between the world's largest economy and its fast-growing Asian rival. One case addresses China's imposition of antidumping duties and countervailing duties on imports of grain-oriented flat-rolled electrical steel from the United States, the statement said.
The other case challenges China's allegedly discriminatory and restrictive treatment of US suppliers of electronic payment services.