WTO Dispute Highlights US-Sino Struggle for Supremacy in Global Auto Markets

The auto industry finds itself at the heart of a tense chess match between the United States and China, as the two nations try to balance their own economic interests with the need to maintain their fragile trade relationship.

A new trade dispute at the World Trade Organization between the U.S. and China over protective duties could foreshadow a battle in a long war for supremacy in global auto markets, an industry expert says.

Peter Cooke, a professor of automotive management at the University of Buckingham in the U.K., discusses the scenario after the WTO's disputes-settlement body established a panel to adjudicate claims China is imposing illegal duties on U.S. vehicles exported to the country.

Cooke predicts a tough fight from Beijing to maintain the duties, which he characterizes as both punishing and strategic.

For more, read "WTO Intervenes in U.S. Pushback Against China Tariffs" on WardsAuto.com.