Subsidies for photovoltaic and other industries are illegal! China Wins a Key Ruling

recently won a key ruling. On January 30,

local time, the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced the panel ruling of the WTO dispute case of China v. the United States Inflation Reduction Law. It clearly found that the subsidies received by the United States for the use of domestic components in solar and wind power projects were discriminatory and violated WTO rules.

, the WTO panel finally rejected the US claim that the measures involved in the case were carried out to protect US" public morality " And demanded that the United States immediately cancel the subsidies involved in the case, with the latest implementation deadline of October 1 , 2026.

However, the panel only has the power of recommendation rather than enforcement, and the US side may refuse to implement it .

In retrospect, the dispute began in 2022 .

In August of that year, the Biden Administration introduced the Inflation Reduction Act, which plans to invest nearly $400 billion. In order to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests and the fair international trade order, only " that use American steel and other products will be allowed to do so. China formally sued the United States to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in March 2024. In July of

the same year, due to the fruitless consultations between the two sides, China made a further request to the WTO to set up a panel of experts to adjudicate the violations committed by the United States.

After more than a year and a half of trial, the WTO panel finally made a ruling on January 30, 2026, fully supporting China's claims.

It is noteworthy that recently, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued a statement on the WTO ruling in the case of China v. the United States Inflation Reduction Act, admitting defeat and accusing the WTO ruling of being wrong. He Yadong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a regular briefing on February 5 that the ruling showed that the existing WTO rules could not solve the ". The WTO panel has made an objective and fair ruling. This ruling reflects the basic consensus of WTO members, and the United States, as a member of the WTO, should respect the ruling and abide by the rules.

He pointed out that the relevant actions and statements of the United States are to excuse its protectionist behavior of violating treaty obligations and abusing subsidies, trying to blame other parties for internal problems such as insufficient competitiveness of its own industries, intervening and fragmenting the global market artificially, and undermining the stability of the global production and supply chain.

He urged the United States to respect the WTO ruling , correct the wrong practices that violate the WTO rules as soon as possible, and take practical actions to safeguard the rule-based multilateral trade order.