China asks WTO to set up panel for US electric vehicle subsidies dispute

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has requested the World Trade Organization set up an expert panel to help settle a dispute over electric vehicles subsidies under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, the country's commerce ministry said on Monday.

The world's No.2 economy opened the WTO dispute in late March after the Biden administration passed the IRA, a wide-ranging law that provides billions of dollars in tax credits to help consumers buy EVs and firms to produce renewable energy, as the White House looks to decarbonise the U.S. power sector.

China has failed to reach a solution with the U.S. through consultations that would safeguard the rights and interests of its EV industry, the ministry said in its statement, and so is advancing its case at the WTO.

The IRA "excludes products from WTO members such as China, artificially sets trade barriers, and pushes up the costs of green energy transition", China's commerce ministry said.

"We urge the U.S. to abide by WTO rules and stop abusing its industrial policies to undermine international cooperation on climate change," China said.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Additional reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva; Editing by David Goodman and Jan Harvey)