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The trade body had ruled against punitive
metal import duties imposed on China, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey by the
Trump administration
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Washington also appealed a ruling that it was
flouting international trade rules by labelling imports from Hong Kong as being
from China
An employee looks on at steel rolls at a factory
in Nantong in China’s eastern Jiangsu province in March 2022. Photo: AFP
Washington announced on Friday that it had appealed against four
World Trade Organization panel rulings faulting it for punitive tariffs imposed
on steel imports from China and other countries.
It also appealed a ruling that it was flouting international
trade rules by labelling imports from Hong Kong as being from China.
Former US president Donald Trump’s administration introduced the
tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from China, Norway, Switzerland and
Turkey.
Marking a departure from a decades-long, US-led drive for free
trade, Trump justified the steep tariffs with claims that massive flows of
imports to the United States threatened national security.
Maria
Pagan, US ambassador to the World Trade Organization, speaks at an interview in
Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday. Photo: Reuters
The administration of his successor, President Joe Biden, has
taken a less combative tone but has stuck with the tariffs.
The expert panels the WTO set up in 2018 to settle complaints
filed over the tariffs ruled last month that they were inconsistent with
various articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
The panels also determined that these inconsistencies were not
justified by the security exceptions provided for in the GATT, as they were not
applied in a time of war or during a case of serious international tension.
US Ambassador Maria Pagan criticised the rulings during a
meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on Friday.
WTO rules for
Hong Kong in its trade dispute with US
“The United States will not cede decision-making over its
essential security to WTO panels,” she said.
“For over 70 years, the United States has held the clear and
unequivocal position that issues of national security cannot be reviewed in WTO
dispute settlement,” she said.
“The
United States cannot support adoption of these fundamentally flawed and
damaging reports,” she said, announcing the US decision to appeal.
Washington has also appealed a separate ruling issued last month
faulting it for another decision under Trump to stop stamping products as “Made
in Hong Kong”, and instead labelling them as Chinese-made.
Trump’s protectionist campaign promise: trade tariffs on
steel and aluminium imports approved
Trump’s
protectionist campaign promise: trade tariffs on steel and aluminium imports
approved
After Hong Kong filed a complaint arguing that the move ignored
its status as a separate WTO member, a DSB panel ruled the US shift in origins
markings was “not justified” under global trade rules.
In the past, the WTO Appellate Body would have had three months
to rule on any appeals filed.
But the appeals tribunal – also known as the supreme court of
world trade – has been frozen since late 2019, after the United States under
Trump blocked the appointment of new judges and demanded a dramatic overhaul.
By filing appeals into a void, Washington has in effect blocked
China’s ability to move forward and request financial compensation for the US
activities deemed illegal by the DSB.