U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum are opposed by many parties in the WTO

China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia, and Turkey 7 World Trade Organization members emphasized at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting held in Geneva on October 29 that the steel and aluminum tariff measures announced by the United States in March this year are not based on "national "Safety" consideration is essentially a safeguard measure, and an expert group is required to review whether this measure violates relevant WTO regulations.

In March of this year, the United States announced that it would impose tariffs of 25% and 10% on imported steel and aluminum products, citing threats to national security. The reasons why the United States requires the levy of tariffs on steel and aluminum have been questioned by many parties. From July to early October, the complainant negotiated with the United States, but failed to resolve the dispute.

At the meeting on the same day, the Chinese representative stated that the excuse of the United States “for national security” was not valid. The US move was actually a trade protection measure, which seriously violated the WTO’s Safeguards Agreement and the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Relevant regulations. In terms of content and substance, U.S. steel and aluminum tariff measures are intended to eliminate the damage to domestic industries caused by imported steel and aluminum products and to safeguard the economic interests of related industries in the United States.

The representative of the European Union believes that it is unprecedented for the seven WTO members to apply for the establishment of an expert group against one member within one day, which shows that the members are strongly opposed to the US behavior. The European Union does not agree with the "reason for rationalization" put forward by the US, and points out that the US steel and aluminum tariffs are in fact trade safeguards to protect domestic industries.

Russia, Norway, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey also expressed their opposition to the actions of the United States. The representative of Russia stated that the request for this application shows the consensus of all parties on condemning the US for violating WTO rules. The representative of Canada said that he could not understand that exports of American steel and aluminum might threaten the national security of the United States, and expressed concern that tariff measures on steel and aluminum might damage the integrity of the global trading system. The representative of Norway believes that the measures taken by the United States have clearly deviated from the commitments made by the United States under the multilateral trading system.

At the meeting, the United States rejected the request for the establishment of an expert group, claiming that "national security issues are political in nature and do not apply to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism." caveat. However, this position of the United States was opposed by many members. The EU responded that raising issues in the dispute settlement mechanism does not mean that they cannot figure out the existing WTO terms. China, Japan, Brazil and other countries have indicated that constructive dialogue is needed between members. As long as the issues raised by all parties can be resolved, the expert panel and appellate body's ruling is necessary. It is expected that the above seven WTO members will submit their application for the expert group again at the next WTO dispute settlement body meeting to be held in November.

According to WTO rules, after a trade dispute occurs between members, they can file a consultation request with the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. If the relevant members cannot reach an agreement during the consultation period, the members can submit an expert panel to decide the dispute.

This article is transferred from China Coal Resources Network

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