China applauded the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that the United States' Section 232 tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products were in breach of WTO rules, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce said Saturday.

The spokesperson called the ruling by a WTO expert panel "objective and fair."

The United States has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from certain WTO members in the name of "national security" since 2018. Such actions are, in essence, practices of unilateralism and protectionism, and caused serious damage to the rule-based multilateral trading system, said the spokesperson.

These actions are not only opposed by many WTO members but are widely criticized within the United States, the spokesperson said. That has shown that the WTO security exception clauses are not a "haven" for unilateralism and protectionism.

China hopes that the U.S. side will respect the ruling of the WTO expert panel and follow the WTO rules, correct its wrongdoings as soon as possible, and work with China and other WTO members to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system, the spokesperson said.