The Standard And Evaluation Of Subsidy Specificity Under The WTO System

Subsidy is an important means of state intervention in the economy. Subsidy policy such as tax deduction and exemption for high-tech industries plays an important role for the country’s industrial adjustment and the overall structure of the industry in our country. A series of subsidy policies such as preferential loans to the poor areas to attract domestic and foreign investment, can not only improve the economic level and the employment rate of the region, but also affect the regional economic balance and social stability, just as the large-scale development in west china. Especially export subsidy can reduce the production cost of the product, thereby improving international competitiveness and promoting the industrial development of china.Obviously, subsidy is so important for a country, as a result, it will make many countries use subsidies to promote the development of its economy. However, the use of subsidies has serious consequence. The marginal cost of its products exported to foreign countries are much lower than the marginal cost of the same or similar products in importing countries, and even lower than the actual cost of the product itself, which leads to unfair international trade. It’s easy to cause all kinds of countervailing measures of foreign retaliation. But as subsidy measures almost involve in all aspects of the country, fighting all of them with countervailing measures is unrealistic. Specificity standard generates to solve the problem.Specificity standard is of great significance to whether the subsidy measures are reasonable and is also an important prerequisite of countervailing measures. Specificity standard can be used as a filter to subsidy measures, which can not only protect the reasonable subsidy measures, but also can limit the countervailing measures of other countries, because countervailing measures to make up for their industrial damage can be taken when other countries’subsidy measures meet up with specificity standard. On the one hand, we can charge countervailing duties for subsidies giving in a particular industry or enterprise and correct the distort of resources allocation; On the other hand, we can’t charge countervailing duties to all subsidies, because not all subsidy measures have a distorting effect on the allocation of resources. Specificity standard is such a standard, which can limit the number of anti-subsidy investigation and avoid the friction caused by repeatedly using the countervailing measures.As a trading power, during the international association with other countries, China urgently needs the relevant law which can conform to international law.《Subsidies and countervailing measures agreement》(hereinafter referred to as "SCM agreement") is one of the package of the WTO which now is the main source of international law dealing with subsidies and countervailing. The related subsidies and countervailing law in our country also follows the development trends of the worldwide unified private law, and at the same time of reforms itself, constantly absorbing the mature research of foreign countries. So further study of specificity standard of the SCM agreement has the vital significance in consummating the related laws in our country. Based on the above background, this article take "the standard and evaluation of subsidy specificity under the WTO system " as the subject, the full text is divided into the following five chapters:The first chapter is introduction, including the background and the significance of the selected topic, literature review, the main content of the thesis and innovation points and deficiencies.The second chapter is based on subsidy specificity of the SCM agreement, discussed the subsidy and anti-subsidy rules before SCM agreement comes into effect in detail, and the definition of subsidies under the SCM agreement and the importance of subsidies to a country. Subsidy is also necessary to the existence of countervailing action, the chapter also includes the economics theory basis and evaluation of subsidies specificity in the SCM agreement. Based on specificity, subsidies are divided into three conditions (prohibitive subsidies, actionable subsidies and non-actionable subsidies) and three types of exceptions (R&D subsidies, backward-areas subsidies, environmental subsidies). The third chapter is to introduce the evaluation of subsidy specificity under the SCM agreement. Respectively, it analyzes the value and defects of specificity standard in detail and introduces the WTO panel’interpretation of specificity standard when encountered conflicts in the practice.The fourth chapter uses American as an analysis object to discuss the legislation practice in the world. It introduces the legislation practice of specificity standard under the SCM agreement in the United States and the United States’ distorted interpretation of specificity standard of the SCM agreement.The fifth chapter introduces the specificity issues of subsidies and countervailing law system in our country, and puts forward the feasible measures of perfecting our country’s subsidies and countervailing law.China is facing more opportunities and challenges under the globalization of international trade. As one of the world’s biggest trading nations, in the process of participation in the global economy, China should pay more attention to the understanding and grasp of international rules or regulations. Especially China is lack of related research of specificity standard, when dealing with foreign countervailing action China is easy to miss preferable opportunities, which is not conducive to the development of China’s international trade. In the research of international rules, at the same time,China should pay attention to reasonable introduction and absorption, and avoid blindly copy, because only one policy is suitable for national conditions, can exist and play a role in the long term.