Study On The Application Of The Non-Commercial Assistance In Regional Trade Agreement

The concept of non-commercial assistance terms originated in Australia’s economic appeal.In order to protect the competitive market,Australia put forward the concept of competitive neutrality under the background of reforming state-owned enterprises,which is the theoretical basis of non-commercial assistance terms.Since then,in order to squeeze out state-owned enterprises,the United States has begun to construct regional trade agreements,where non-commercial assistance clauses can further regulate state-owned enterprises due to their own functions.In recent years,it has gradually evolved into one of the main contents of state-owned enterprise rules in regional trade agreements.In view of the characteristics of state-owned enterprise ownership,WTO agreement reform negotiations have stalled due to the interests of all parties.The most prominent effect of the non-commercial assistance clause is to multilateralize the anti-subsidy clause of state-owned enterprises dominated by the United States and other developed countries,that is,to raise the intensity of the subsidy regulation of state-owned enterprises by invoking the clause.Therefore,in practice,the non-commercial assistance clause is widely discussed.Once China accepts the non-commercial assistance clause,CPTPP members are likely to invoke the non-commercial assistance clause in the future to crack down on Chinese stateowned enterprises.Previously,under the WTO system,countries have used anti-subsidy clauses to regulate the behavior of state-owned enterprises.The discussion on the scope of public institutions,the applicable criteria of external benchmarks,and the applicable field of countervailing clause in the academic circle was originally caused by WTO cases.In view of the different attitudes of WTO panel and appellate body on the application of countervailing clause,the academic circle has paid attention to and discussed this issue.This paper is divided into four chapters.The introduction explains why the author chooses to study the scope of application of non-commercial assistance clause,its significance and how to carry out research on this issue.Chapter one outlines the non-commercial assistance provisions.Firstly,the definition of non-commercial assistance clause is clarified,and the function of restricting subsidies of state-owned enterprises is pointed out.The essence of noncommercial assistance clause is introduced.Secondly,by comparing the noncommercial assistance clause with the WTO countervailing clause,the paper sorts out the main characteristics of the non-commercial assistance clause,that is,the expansion of the subsidy provider,the simplification of the identification requirements,and the expansion of the application field.The second chapter mainly analyzes the application of the non-commercial assistance clause based on the characteristics of the non-commercial assistance clause.Firstly,the origin of non-commercial assistance clause and its concrete embodiment in regional trade agreement are expounded.Secondly,it analyzes the cases of the extension and application of the anti-vailing clause in WTO in recent years and focuses on the deficiency of the traditional anti-vailing clause.And through the analysis of the reasons for the extension of the scope of application of the countervailing clause,judge whether the non-commercial assistance clause can be applied to practice,and conclude the significance of the existence of the noncommercial assistance clause.Finally,the application of the non-commercial assistance clause is disputed.Chapter three complements chapter two.The second chapter has pointed out the dispute over the application of the non-commercial assistance clause,and the third chapter responds by analyzing from the perspective of theory and practice that the extension of the application scope of the non-commercial assistance clause will bring many disadvantages.It includes a series of risks such as unclear identification of aid and treaty conflicts.Therefore,in the fourth chapter,the author puts forward humble opinion on the countermeasures of non-commercial assistance clause in regional trade agreement.From the domestic level,we should improve the anti-subsidy rules of state-owned enterprises and introduce the information disclosure system.At the international level,this paper mainly puts forward China’s contracting measures and countermeasures to litigation.