China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced today that it had requested that the World Trade Organization (WTO) set up a panel to hear its claim that subsidies for new energy vehicles provided under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) violate a number of WTO obligations.

At a Council on Foreign Relations event today, Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh offered comments on "Chinese Overcapacity and the Global Economy."

A U.S. Commerce Department investigation that will apply new transnational subsidy rules for the first time is underway, with Commerce asking the Chinese government for details about its subsidies in the solar sector related to production in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said today that the agency is now reviewing a domestic petition for a trade barrier investigation on the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) investigations.

In response to a recent statement by President Biden on Chinese subsidies to the EV sector, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has weighed in on the issue. The rhetoric from both sides merits some fact checking and clarification.

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department initiated anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations on silicon photovoltaic cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, with a focus on Chinese-headquartered companies that are producing in those countries.

A recent social media post tied to Chinese state media warned against EU actions against Chinese subsidies, stating that "China actually has sufficient countermeasures."