China Files Complaint With WTO Over U.S. EV Subsidy Policies

China's Commerce Ministry said the government has taken the U.S. to the World Trade Organization's dispute-settlement mechanism over Washington's measures to limit electric-vehicle makers from sourcing Chinese battery materials.

The ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and other relevant rules stipulated "discriminatory" subsidy policies for new-energy vehicles that exclude China and some other WTO members, distorting fair competition and violating WTO rules such as national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment.

"China is firmly opposed to it," it said, adding that it hopes the U.S. will correct the discriminatory industrial policies.

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, consumers in the U.S. won't be able to claim a $7,500 clean-vehicle tax credit if they purchase cars containing battery materials from a "foreign entity of concern" over the next two years.

Industry players viewed the move was as a way to reduce China's involvement in the U.S. EV industry's supply chain.

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