“This is a procedural step taken for technical reasons related to the need to assess certain factors arising from the preparation of written submissions,” EU trade spokesman Olof Gil said.
“This suspension can be effected by the EU, the complainant in this case, at any time during the WTO proceedings.”
Brussels opened the case in January 2022, saying it had evidence of the refusal of Lithuanian goods at customs and the rejection of applications from Lithuania.
The EU also claimed there is evidence that China is pressuring companies operating from other member states to exclude Lithuanian raw materials from their supply chains when exporting to Lithuania.
A memo circulated to WTO members on Friday said the EU, which represents 27 member states at the Geneva conference, wants “the proceedings to be halted immediately in accordance with Article 12.12 of the Understanding”.
The suspension was for an “indefinite period”, but the bloc has one year before resuming the conflict.
The case was initially based on the harsh embargo imposed by the city of Brussels on Lithuanian products at the end of 2021. However, the blockade gradually opened up and small quantities of products gradually began to enter Chinese ports.
The EU and China cannot agree on key issues. Is this a “recipe for a trade war”?
The EU and China cannot agree on key issues. Is this a “recipe for a trade war”?
China imported US$14.2 million worth of Lithuanian goods in December 2023, far short of the US$43.1 million in December 2020, before the conflict began, but compared to December 2021, when the conflict broke out. It increased by 271%.
Last year, more than US$134 million of Lithuanian goods were sent to China, a 72.4 percent decrease from the 2020 pre-spat total.
Last November, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said talks were continuing to help China lift “economic pressure” and end a feud that led Beijing to expel Lithuania’s ambassador in 2021. Ta.
Landsbergis told Lithuanian news agency ELTA: “I must emphasize that most of the economic pressure measures against Lithuania have been lifted after discussions at the WTO and various diplomatic processes, some of which are still ongoing.” No,” he said.
“What I have not made very clear so far is that Lithuania is no longer under economic pressure from China,” he added.
Beijing has always publicly denied there was an embargo, telling EU officials that Chinese companies had simply decided not to buy goods from countries that had “attacked China’s sovereignty.”
But in November, China’s ambassador to the EU, Hu Kong, made a rare explicit suggestion that China had formally punished Lithuania for its ties with Taiwan.
“This concerns One China Policy, which is one of the fundamental principles of China’s foreign policy. So if a country actually violates that fundamental principle, we will take action accordingly. – I think that’s understood,” Fu said.
At the root of the controversy, which saw Vilnius emerge as Europe’s most hawkish spokesperson on China, was the creation of the Taiwan Mission in November 2021.
China-EU trade dispute comes to the fore as Beijing seeks ‘strategic trust’ – analyst
China-EU trade dispute comes to the fore as Beijing seeks ‘strategic trust’ – analyst
The name was a departure from the European Union’s convention that offices are usually named “Taipei”. A month later, Lithuania’s exports to China in December fell by more than 90% compared to the previous year.
The saga has become a major thorn in the broader EU-China relationship. This will help galvanize support for anti-coercion measures in the current trade arsenal, allowing Europe to respond to future economic toughness with tariffs and market access restrictions.
Although Brussels publicly defended Lithuania’s right to host the secretariat under the name chosen under the bloc’s “One China” policy, some powerful member states privately believe that Vilnius is the name of China. I felt that I had chosen an unnecessary fight.
In a sign that normal diplomatic operations between China and Lithuania have not resumed, Landsbergis said on Friday that the Chinese mission in Vilnius had stopped issuing visas to Lithuanian nationals as of Wednesday, local media LRT reported. Reported.