International Politics Current Event Memo Article

International Politics Current Event Memo - Article Example It was confirmed that the policies used by China were violating the set global trade rules. Particularly, it was confirmed that the export rules applied by China on the rare-earth metals were not consistent with China’s obligation in the WTO. In defense, China stated that the rules were in place as a measure to safeguard the environment, but the WTO said that those reasons were not enough to limit exports. The WTO ruling covered seventeen rare-earth metals that are used in making of electronic products. According to the authors, the decision is likely to see a reduction in rare-earth metals prices. The authors note that the Obama leadership is keen on stepping up such trade cases against countries such as Russia, China and India. This is in an attempt to stop such countries from violating WTO rules. The main actors covered in the article are China, the United States and the World Trade Organization. On one hand, China’s interest is to limit the export of rare-earth metals to other countries. According to Chinese officials, such restrictions are important in helping conserve the environment. On the other hand, the WTO and the United States are keen on ensuring that China does not put policies in place that violate the WTO rules and limit international trade. For the WTO, this is an attempt to create a level-playing field in which all countries operate on fair policies that do not negatively affect other member countries. As noted in the article, the US is interested in following such cases in order to enhance fair trade policies. This is of benefit to the US economy. For example, it is noted in the article that the steelmakers in the United States welcomed the decision taken by the WTO since some of these rare-earth metals such as tungsten are used in the steel industry. The institutions relevant to the article include World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and