GENEVA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- A World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrator will review China's request for imposing an annual trade sanction of seven billion U.S. dollars on U.S. goods, said a Geneva trade official on condition of anonymity Friday.

The arbitration was automatically triggered after the United States informed the WTO that it objected to the level of retaliation proposed by China earlier this month.

China proposed the retaliation due to the U.S. failure to comply with an earlier WTO ruling.

China won the WTO ruling in 2016 in the dispute on certain assessment methods used by the United States during its anti-dumping proceedings.

The ruling was later confirmed by an appeal last year, setting Aug. 22 the deadline for the United States to comply with the ruling.

Under WTO rules, if the member concerned objects to the level of retaliation, the matter shall be referred to arbitration and the arbitration is to be completed within 60 days after the date of expiry of the reasonable period of time.