The Obama administration on Tuesday accused China of continuing to impose high taxes on U.S. chicken exports and refusing to comply with orders to follow global trading rules.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the White House was mounting a challenge to China at the World Trade Organization, demanding that it abide by WTO rules.
"American [poultry] farmers deserve a fair shot to compete and win in the global economy, and this administration will continue to hold China responsible when they attempt to disadvantage our farmers, businesses and workers," he said.
High Chinese duties make U.S. products too expensive in the global market compared with the heavily subsidized Chinese goods.
This is the second dispute involving U.S. chicken exports to China since 2013. The WTO found in favor of the U.S. the last time. But China reopened the case and insisted it was following global trading rules.
The United States said China carried out its reinvestigation in near secrecy and failed to prove that U.S. exports actually hurt Chinese farmers.
China has yet to respond to the latest U.S. challenge.
Froman said this was the 12th time the U.S. had taken action against China before the WTO, adding that the U.S. had won every case.
