The World Trade Organization has ruled that China acted inconsistently with WTO obligations by imposing additional duties on US imports in retaliation for US tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The international body's dispute panel revealed the finding in a report issued on Wednesday.

In 2018, the administration of former US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent duty on steel imports and a 10 percent duty on aluminum imports from China.

In response, China imposed duties on a wide range of imports from the US, including pork, fruits and scrap metal.

In December, the WTO ruled that the US move had violated WTO rules. But the administration of President Joe Biden has kept the metal tariffs in place.

China's commerce ministry said in a statement that it is studying the WTO report. The ministry criticized the US and justified Chinese measures. It demanded that the US immediately lift the tariffs.

Meanwhile, the Office of the US Trade Representative welcomed the WTO report.

The statement said that the United States is "pleased" with the report as it recognized that US actions on steel and aluminum are "security measures" and that China "illegally retaliated with sham 'safeguard' tariffs."

It went on to say that "issues of national security cannot be reviewed in WTO dispute settlement."