WTO to hear complaints over US tariffs
Print Edition
THE World Trade Organization agreed yesterday to hear complaints from a range of countries over new US steel and aluminium tariffs, as well as complaints from Washington over retaliatory duties.
The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body agreed to establish panels to review US President Donald Trump’s decision to hit a long line of countries with tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium.
The DSB will create separate panels for the complaints by the European Union, China, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Russia, after the United States said it would not agree to a single panel to hear all of them.
The DSB agreed to Washington’s request for three panels to rule on the legality of retaliatory tariffs imposed by Canada, China and the European Union.
Marking a departure from a decades-long US-led drive for free trade, Trump has justified the steep tariffs with claims that massive flows of imports to the US threaten national security.
Washington says the metals tariffs, imposed by Trump in March, are a national security measure, and therefore exempt from WTO rules.
Other countries disagree, saying they are thinly disguised protectionism that damages US rivals globally.
They say the US should compensate them for the damage, and have imposed their own tariffs in response.
The tariff spat has escalated into a trade war between the US and China and growing trade tensions between Washington and many of its traditional allies.
The decision to establish the panels follows rounds of failed consultations between the parties and mark an escalation in an ongoing showdown at the WTO around Trump’s controversial trade policies.
The first requests to establish the panels were rejected last month, prompting the sides to file second requests.
Under WTO regulations, parties in a dispute can block a first request for the creation of an arbitration panel, but if the parties make a second request, it is all but guaranteed to go through.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
