China Has Until Dec. 31 to Fix TRQ Administration of Wheat, Rice, Corn

China and the U.S. have agreed that China has until the end of the year to come into compliance with a World Trade Organization panel ruling on how it administers its tariff rate quotas for wheat, corn and rice. The WTO said that the fact that state-trading enterprises are given specific shares of the lower-duty import quotas, but that those enterprises don't always use all of the quotas nor is the unused portion reallocated to other buyers, means that China restrains the filling of its tariff rate quotas. The notice that the two countries agreed on a compliance timeline was circulated at the WTO on July 4.

The WTO is asking China to publish clear administrative procedures for allocation of the lower-tariff wheat, corn and rice purchases, and the reallocation of those purchases if state traders do not buy their full share. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that if China’s TRQs had been completely filled, China would have imported up to $3.5 billion worth of corn, wheat and rice in 2015. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says the quotas consistently do not fill.