On Aug. 19, Japan requested the establishment of a panel under the WTO Agreement regarding China’s measure imposing anti-dumping duties on Japanese stainless steel products. The panel is equivalent to the first trial of a case. The government aims for a breakthrough in the current situation in which Japanese companies are incurring extra costs.

China has claimed that its domestic industry has suffered losses due to the sudden increase in imports of three types of Japanese stainless steel. China has applied tariffs of either 18.1% or 29% on such products since July 2019.

In June 2021, the Japanese government requested the WTO for a bilateral consultation, which is equivalent to filing a suit, but the issue was not resolved. The government then requested a panel based on the WTO rule that a panel can be established if a bilateral consultation does not resolve an issue within 60 days. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), China’s imposition of the new tariffs has caused Japanese companies an additional financial burden of about 1.1 billion yen annually.