IN a mixed ruling on Friday the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) has partly upheld the Chinese petition against the levy of anti-dumping duty on Chinese products by the USA and observed that the ''US Department of Commerce had acted inconsistently'' with WTO guidelines on five points of the case. The DSB also rejected China's plea on at least 12 points which was held by the USA as a victory for the American workers and businesses unfairly affected by Chinese imports.

China had moved the DSB in 2008, questioning the USA's decision to levy punitive levy on Chinese goods such as steel pipes, tyres and tubes. The USA had imposed 25% anti-dumping duty to square off the subsidy element of the Chinese goods being dumped on the US market.

China has hailed the DSB ruling but has also said that it would study the issue and may appeal against the adverse part of the order as per the WTO procedures.