Korea Files Complaint With WTO Against China's THAAD Retaliation
Korea has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization panel against China for its economic retaliation against the country's decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system in the said country. This has been raised during the WTO meeting in Zurich, Switzerland last March 28 to 30.
Amidst the issue on THAAD, this was the first time for the Korean government to officially take issue with the retaliatory actions of China against the Lotte Group and some other Korean firms which are operating in China. This is crucial for the country since Chiba has been regarded as the world's No.2 in terms of the economy.
Korea asked the Technical Barriers to Trade committee to deal with the trade barriers imposed by China and marked them as specific trade concerns as per Korea Times. With this, the member countries of the WTO can just ask the committee to review and examine the trade policies taken by the trading partners and check if they impede imports of some goods.
The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards was the one which filed the complaint against China after it imposed policies restricting the sales of baby formula and medical equipment by foreign businesses. It can be recalled that last October, the government of China started to allow each baby formula maker to sell only nine products under three brands. Moreover, these companies were also asked to register their products under the China Food and Drug Administration and the Certification and Administration of the People's Republic of China.
This policy imposed by China was viewed as retaliation against Korea at the time because made-in-Korea baby formula products gained immense popularity and attention among Chinese consumers as per Reuters. This was because despite the higher costs the Chinese still buy them since they do not trust those manufactured by Chinese companies.
Moreover, Korea also filed a complaint that China collects a registration fee from non-Chinese medical equipment makers. The country has been blamed and criticized for not recognizing internationally accredited certificates.
