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WASHINGTON / OSLO (Reuters) – US urges World Trade Organization dispute settlement group to get involved in dispute over retaliatory measures against US tariffs on steel and aluminum, according to a US official familiar with the case.
An overhead crane places a steel slab for storage at Novolipetsk Steel PAO in Farrell, Pennsylvania, USA, on March 9, 2018. REUTERS / Aaron Josefczyk
The applications, filed on Thursday, concern tariffs imposed by China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico, as a result of the imposition by the United States of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminum imports, justified for reasons of national security.
Canada, Mexico and China had also planned to ask a WTO panel to review these tariffs, according to another government official familiar with the matter. Earlier on Thursday, Norway said the EU and other countries would seek help from the WTO dispute settlement group.
Representatives of country trade delegations could not be contacted immediately after regular business hours. The WTO did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The dispute marks a new dimension of the ongoing skirmish between the United States and a number of their trading partners, as well as the WTO itself, which has blocked the appointment of new judges. The WTO is ruling a record number of disputes, many of which stem from Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum and its trade war with China.
Norway had previously stated that the initial consultations with the United States did not result in an acceptable solution and that, therefore, the Nordic countries joined the others in requesting the WTO. to establish the panel to obtain an independent assessment of the issue.
"We believe that additional US duties on steel and aluminum are contrary to WTO rules," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide in a statement.
"That is why, together with the EU and several others, we have asked the WTO today to create a dispute settlement panel on additional duties imposed by the United States," he said. she declared.
Meanwhile, the EU, Norway and Switzerland have asked for support from Asia for free trade, the Iran nuclear deal and the fight against global warming. climate change at a regional summit bringing together China, Japan and Russia as a counterweight to more protectionist US.
US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Wednesday that the trade talks with China seemed to have taken a brief pause, and he denied expectations that countries would make substantial progress toward a deal when it came to trading. a future G20 meeting.
Despite the conclusion of an agreement with Washington to reform the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico and Canada remain subject to metal tariffs.
Cecilia Malmstrom, head of European diplomacy, spoke in Brussels Tuesday with Ross of his talks on improving trade relations, although Washington accused the bloc of pushing the talks too slowly.
Report by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Edited by Mark Heinrich and Tomasz Janowski
