Beijing (AFP)

In the face of the bid of Donald Trump, China calls for a third: it announced Monday the filing of a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the day after the entry into force of new customs duties Americans on Chinese products.

This is not the first time that Beijing has seized this multilateral forum on this subject, but this new complaint is particularly significant given the ongoing escalation.

"These American taxes seriously violate the consensus reached by the heads of state of our two countries in Osaka" (Japan) at the end of June during the G20 summit, marked by the announcement of a truce in the bilateral trade war, a said the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

"China is very dissatisfied and staunchly opposed to this and, in accordance with WTO rules, will firmly protect its rights and legitimate interests," he said in a short statement posted on his website.

The ministry said the complaint was filed in the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) - often dubbed the Supreme Court of World Trade.

The US government's new 15% additional tariffs cover part of the $ 300 billion worth of goods imported from China that had previously been spared by President Donald Trump.

They target a wide range of products, including food (ketchup, cut beef meat, pork sausage, fruit, vegetables, milk, cheese, spices, ice cream) and shows the determination of the US president to extract a trade agreement in Beijing.

- The truce over -

Donald Trump, campaigning for a second term, thus remained deaf to the many warnings about the potential negative impact on the economy and global markets.

These are already shaken by the Beijing-Washington standoff, which began last year and resulted in the reciprocal imposition of punitive tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in annual trade.

At the Osaka summit, Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had agreed to revive trade negotiations.

But the truce has fizzled. On August 1, the White House tenant announced additional tariffs of 10 percent on some of the $ 300 billion of Chinese imports hitherto spared as of September 1.

On August 23, Beijing announced tariff retaliation for $ 75 billion worth of US goods and cars - pushing the US administration to increase the additional duties announced on August 1 to 15 percent.

- An effective complaint? -

In this context, what will China's complaint to the WTO against the United States change? In the immediate future, maybe not much.

Already, remedies exist. But, above all, the Trump administration challenges the legitimacy of the WTO, which it accuses of giving preferential treatment to developing countries, first and foremost China.

In late July, the tenant of the White House gave him three months to reform, otherwise the United States will leave the organization.

In this context, the Trump administration has for several months prevented the appointment of new judges to the DSB, at the risk of paralyzing this body from December 11, when several mandates will expire.

President Trump criticizes the DSB for exceeding its powers and believes that no foreign court can supplant US justice.

Donald Trump had raised hopes for a resolution of tensions at the end of August at the G7 summit in Biarritz when he announced that China was ready to return to the trade table after telephone exchanges between his team and officials Chinese.

But a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said he was not aware of such contacts, plunging world markets into doubt.

© 2019 AFP