China was admitted to the WTO after promising to accept its rules about free trade. But as the lawyers say when you end up disappointed by a contract, you should have read the fine print.
The fine print in China's WTO agreement was in an attached document euphemistically labeled an “accession agreement,” which gave China status as a “nonmarket economy” and spelled out thousands of details about special preferences for China. China was allowed to impose higher tariffs than other countries, and ever since has protected its auto industry by a prohibitive tariff on imported cars. By contrast, South Korea's tariff on imported cars is 8 percent, and the European Union's is 10 percent.
China Celebrates Outwitting Us in the WTO( Phyllis Schlafly)