China has accused the United States of making “unfounded and false accusations” of its role in fentanyl trade in justifying customs duties on Chinese products.

The complaint was filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) one day after US President Donald Trump raised border taxes on Chinese goods by 10%, a measure he said was intended to deal with an inflow of illegal drugs.

In the archiving, China said that the measures were “discriminatory and protectionist” and violated the trade rules.

But experts have warned that China will unlikely secure a decision to its advantage as the panel that determines trade disputes remains unable to function. A former WTO official told the BBC that it has “no opportunity to succeed”.

The dispute comes when Trump’s plans for tariffs – a tax he has said he wants to see imposed all foreign transport in the country – causes uncertainty in the global trading landscape.

Trump has said that tariffs will encourage companies to make their products in the United States and repeatedly express concern about the size of US trade deficit.

But his actions against China – which he has threatened to expand to include Canada, Mexico and Europe – has led to concerns about their impact on the global economy, including in the United States, as companies respond to trading security by keeping investment or forwarding New costs for customers.

Sheertex, a Canadian Tights-maker, announced on Wednesday that the temporarily dismissed 40% of its nearly 350 workers, with reference to customs issues.

US imports met their highest record in December when companies responded to the threats from customs and competed to secure foreign toys, mobile phones and computers.

The value of goods brought into the United States jumped 4% from November to $ 293.1 billion ($ 234.4 billion), the highest since items began in 1992, said the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.

The increase also contributed to the widest trade deficit or gap between exports and imports in almost two years.

The tariffs have also aroused political tension, including retaliation from China, which responded to Trump’s movement with tariffs on US goods and an anti-monopoly probe by Google, among other measures.

The speed that China submitted its complaint to WTO is an indication of Beijing’s preparedness for the championship.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg also reported that the country’s anti-monopoly regulator was preparing for a possible investigation of Apple’s policies and App Store fees and met the company’s shares.

Trump’s movements – which included ordering an end to duty -free treatment for packages worth less than $ 800 – will be an important “shock” for some companies, such as Shein and Temu, as they erode the ability to offer ultra -low prices, said Mark Williams, Chief China Economist at Capital Economics.

But he said he believed in China overall that the effects of Trump’s customs would not be too harmful.

“For the broader Chinese economy, this is definitely manageable,” he said.

The WTO procedures give the United States and China 60 days to resolve their dispute through consultation, at which time China has the right to request assessment of a judge panel.

But the last WTO panel that determines trade disputes – known as the appeal body – remains unable to function, as the United States refuses to approve the appointment of new judges to the body.

The United States also ignored a previous finding of WTO that earlier customs duties on steel and aluminum introduced during Trump’s first period were against the rules.

But Tom Graham, who was chairman of the WTO’s appeal body in 2016 and 2019, told the BBC that it would “probably be a year” before there is a decision from the first step in Beijing’s complaint and there has little chance to move on.

“It may be a strong case, how WTO’s dispute resolution system used to work, but it has no opportunity to succeed here in the end,” he said.

Jeff Moon, who worked with China’s trade policy for President Barack Obama, told the BBC that he expected some first WTO decision to support China’s position.

These cases usually take years to be resolved, and since the appeal process has been paralyzed, “a final decision will never be issued”.

The former assistant US trade representative for China Affairs added that Beijing needed to submit the case to support its often stated position that it is the United States that undermines the rules -based trading system and the relationship between the two countries.

China ranked as the county with the largest deficit in goods in December and sent $ 25.3 billion more to the US than it bought.

The European Union, a goal for Trump’s customs threat, had the second largest gap.

On the other hand, the United States enjoyed a small surplus of $ 2.3 billion in the Britain trade trade trade.

In total, the US trade deficit increased, including services, 17% last year to a total of $ 918.4 billion, as imports increased faster than exports.

In December, the trade deficit for goods and services was $ 98.4 billion, the highest since March 2022, says the trade department.