A legal panel at the WTO last year ruled that U.S. tariffs of up to 35 percent on Chinese car tyres were legal under world trade rules.
Widely expected, Beijing's appeal underlines tensions between rich and emerging economies over trade in industrial goods, which are threatening a global trade pact among the WTO's 153 members known as the Doha round.
Leading trading nations gathering in France this week will attempt to salvage 10 years of negotiations on an accord designed to help poorer nations prosper through trade.
A Chinese trade official in Geneva confirmed that China lodged an appeal but said he could not elaborate.
The United States has until May 30 to lodge a counter-appeal over its rights to tax Chinese tyres, though U.S. trade officials in Geneva and Washington were unavailable to comment.
The WTO's finding last December that U.S. tariffs against China were legal gave a victory not only to the Obama administration but also to the United Steelworkers union, which had complained that surging imports of Chinese tyres were hurting U.S. producers.
"The relief has been important for tyre production in the United States and for the men and women making tyres," Steelworkers president Leo Gerard said in a statement.
Fighting Their Corners
In its original defence, the United States said it was entitled to impose the safeguard under the conditions of China joining the WTO.
The United States argued that Chinese tire imports more than tripled in four years to reach $1.8 billion in value, while U.S. production shrank by more than 25 percent, with 14 percent of U.S. workers in the sector losing their jobs.
China's original case rested on an argument that U.S. measures violated an agreement by G20 leaders to resist protectionism, and on its own data showing a much smaller increase in exports.
Beijing also argued the changes in the U.S. industry were due to a focus on more upmarket products, not rival imports.
China had argued that a U.S. law under which the safeguard was imposed made it too easy for U.S. producers to prove they had been hurt by foreign competition.
The three-year duty, imposed on top of a standard 4 percent tariff on car and light truck tyres, fell to 30 percent in the second year and will drop to 25 percent in the third year.
The WTO's appellate body generally takes three months to reach a decision on whether to uphold or reject all or part of a previous WTO ruling. (Reuters)
