International Regulation of Export Duties: The Experience of the People Republic of China

INTRODUCTION. Internal taxes to exports are imposed by countries in the exercise of their sovereign rights. Upon accession to a treaty, tax sovereignty may be limited. This has happened twice in China's history. If the first time was the result of the Opium wars, then the second time was the WTO accession and the restriction remains in force today. In the given article the issues of international regulation of export duties in China, including practices within the WTO dispute settlement system, are discusses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. This study is based on data from publications on the history of China's customs tariffs, provisions of treaties, national legislation, and reports of panels and the WTO Appellate Body. Comparative legal and formal logical methods were used in the research.

RESEARCH RESULTS. Throughout China's history, various types of customs duties have been imposed. The customs legislation of the People's Republic of China is limited in area. It does not apply in the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, as well as in the Republic of China (Taiwan). After the proclamation of the PRC, there have been no bilateral international agreements limiting the use of internal taxes to exports. GATT does not prohibit the application of export duties, but upon accession to the WTO, countries may commit to limit their use. These obligations are provided in the accession protocol, which is an integral part of the WTO Agreement.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. In several cases, the WTO panels found that China may not seek to justify the application of export duties by reference to the protection of human life or health, as well as the conservation of exhaustible natural resources, pursuant to art. XX GATT. At that time, the PRC's Law on International Relations had not yet entered into force, the provisions of which prohibit the execution of treaties that cause damage national sovereignty, security and public interests. Theoretically, in the future, the PRC may use the relevant provision of national legislation not to fulfill, among other things, the so-called WTO-plus obligations. However, this will amount to a violation of obligations under the WTO Agreement.

1. Aksoy M.A., Beghin J.C. Introduction and Overview. – Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries. Eds. by M.A. Aksoy, J.C. Beghin. Washington: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The World Bank. 2005. P. 17-35.

2. Bastable C.F. Public Finance. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan. 1903. 782 p.

3. Espa I. The Appellate Body Approach to the Applicability of Article XX GATT in the Light of China – Raw Materials: A Missed Opportunity? – Journal of World Trade. 2012. Vol. 46. No. 6. P. 1399-1423.

4. Hans van de Ven. Breaking with the Past. The Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China. New York: Columbia University Press. 2014. 396 p.

5. Henry Gao. Trade and Investment Liberalization: The Case of China. – The Oxford Handbook of International Trade Law. Eds. by D.L. Bethlehem, D.Mc.R. Neufeld, I. Damme. 2nd ed. Croydon: Oxford University Press. 2023. P. 341-373.

6. Howanietz R. China's Virtual Monopoly of Rare Earth Elements: Economic, Technological and Strategic Implications. New York: Routledge. 2018. 190 p.

7. Hui-wen Koo. Weather, Harvests, and Taxes: A Chinese Revolt in Colonial Taiwan. – Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 2015. Vol. XLVI:1. P. 39-59.

8. Jia Hu. The Role of Law in China’s Economic Development, 1978–2011: A Study in Law and Political Economy. Singapore: Springer Nature. 2024. 216 p.

9. Julia Ya Qin. The Predicament of China's “WTO-Plus” Obligation to Eliminate Export Duties: A Commentary on the China-Raw Materials Case. – Chinese Journal of International Law. 2012. Vol. 11. Issue 2. P. 237-246.

10. Lebedev V.A. Finansovoe pravo. Zolotye stranicy finansovogo prava Rossii [Financial Law. Golden Pages of Russian Financial Law]. V 4 t. T. 2. Moscow: Statut. 2000. 461 c. (In Russ.)

11. Lǐ Xuěpíng. WTO chéngxù jīzhì gǎigé de guójìfǎ sīkǎo [Reflections on International Law on the Reform of the WTO Procedural Mechanism]. – Guójì ZHǎnwàng. 2019. dì 6 qī. dì 1-19 yè. (In Chinese)

12. Lin Yuju. Continuity and Breakdown: Taiwan’s Customs Service during the Japanese Occupation, 1895–1945. – The International Journal of Maritime History. 2017. Vol. 29(4). P. 855-874.

13. Mancheri N.A. An Overview of Chinese Rare Earth Export Restrictions and Implications. – Rare Earths Industry: Technological, Economic, and Environmental Implications. Eds. I.B. De Lima, W.L. Filho. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 2015. P. 21-36.

14. Pomfret R. The Economics of Regional Trading Arrangements. New York: Oxford University Press. 1997. 389 p.

15. Potapov I.S. Vneshnyaya torgovlya kapitalisticheskih stran [Foreign Trade of Capitalist Countries]. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, 1973. 278 c. (In Russ.)

16. Ray Huang. Taxation and Governmental Finance in Sixteenth-Century Ming China. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1974. 385 p.

17. Rhoads J.H. Guide to Government Information on Retailing. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1949. 38 p.

18. Shi Zhihong. China’s Overseas Trade Policy and its Historical Results: 1522–1840. Intra-Asian Trade and the World Market. Eds. A.J.H. Latham, H. Kawakatsu. New York: Routledge. 2017. Р. 4-23.

19. Smit A. Issledovaniya o prirode i prichinah bogatstva narodov [An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations]. V 2 t. T. II. Moskva; Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoe social'no-ekonomicheskoe izdatel'stvo. 1935. 475 c. (In Russ.)

20. Utkin E.A. Finansy i kredit stran Azii, Afriki i Latinskoj Ameriki [Finance and Credit in Asia, Africa and Latin America]. Moskva: Universitet druzhby narodov. 1965. 205 s. (In Russ.)

21. Wáng Yúnpéng. Shìjiè màoyì zǔzhī fǎ xià tàn màoyì bìlěi héfǎ xìng pàndìng de xiāngduì xìng [The Relativity of the Determination of the Legality of Carbon Trade Barriers under the World Trade Organization Law]. – Jīngmào fǎlǜ pínglùn. 2023. dì 5 qī. dì 34-55 yè. (In Chinese)

22. Weiner L.B. The Impact of Taiwan's Political Reform on Its Mainland China Policy: Pragmatic Economic Relations and Conflicting Political Ideology. – Washington International Law Journal. 1992. Issue 27. P. 27-54.

23. Yuqin Sun, Xu Chang. General History of China's Foreign Trade. Transl. by Rui Su, R. Gilbank. Singapore: World Scientific. 2024. 500 p.