The U.S. has signaled it may further escalate the trans-Atlantic
dispute over tariffs on steel by filing its own complaint against the
European Union (EU). The World Trade Organization (WTO) said it
received notice from Washington that it wants to hold consultations
with the EU to discuss Europe's decision in March to impose its own
steel tariffs. The EU has 10 days to respond to the U.S. request.
The Administration says that its decision to raise tariffs on steel
imports by up to 30% was correct because it will give breathing space
to the embattled steel industry. The EU countered that the U.S.
actions break WTO rules. It is particularly concerned that there was
no overall increase in steel imports - a precondition for safeguards
action - and that some of the moves target the wrong steel products.
The EU stated that its steel tariffs of up to 26% were meant to
prevent a feared flood of cheap imports from countries hit by the U.S.
protective measures. EU officials said they were forced to respond in
kind to safeguard Europe's own steel industry.
The EU safeguards action is separate from its decision to ask the WTO
to set up a panel to rule on the legality of the US tariffs. The
Europeans are demanding compensation for damage they claim the tariffs
are causing to their domestic industries. The WTO could take up to two
years to rule on the legality of the U.S. tariffs.
Some Stainless Rod Excluded from 201
The US Trade Representative's (USTR) office recently issued a notice
listing an additional 61 products that will be excluded from the
President's 201 Steel Remedy Relief decision. Included are eight types
of stainless steel wire rod:
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
307 Si
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
308 L
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
308 L Si
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
309
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
309 L
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
309 L Mo
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
310
Stainless rod in diameter less than 5.5 millimeters AISI grade ER
312
These approved product exemptions apply to those exclusion requests
that were part of the first round of requests. During this round,
approximately 1,000 requests were received by the Administration. Of
these, about 450 still remain pending - not counting these 61 just
approved. The Administration has vowed to make their decisions on
these remaining 450 by July 3, 2002.
This 450 does NOT include the latest round of new product exclusion
requests that were submitted by May 20, 2002. The list of the first
set of products to be considered by the Administration from the new
requests was also released recently. Included was a submission to
exclude a certain grade of stainless steel wire - Type 301 austenitic
stainless steel round spring wire. It is not known when final
decisions will be made on any of these remaining pending exclusion
requests.
For more detailed information, go to the USTR website at
ustr.gov.
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