A World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes panel was set up Monday at the request of the United States against the European Union (EU) over measures taken by Brussels to counter the effects of special US steel tariffs.
Despite objections from the EU, which with the backing of several other countries has already had a panel established on the US tariff move, American officials pressed ahead for a panel to hear their own complaint.
United States President George W. Bush imposed the special tariffs of up to 30 percent on a wide range of steels in March to shield the ailing US steel industry from imports.
However, the EU claimed that other countries' steel exports would be diverted from the United States into its own markets, and adopted its own measures to protect its steel sector.
At a meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on Monday, the US argued that the EU's safeguard measures were inconsistent with WTO rules, notably because the EU had imposed measures without clear evidence that increased imports were causing or threatening to cause serious injury.
The EU criticized the US decision and argued that provisional safeguards had been implemented in response to US protectionist action taken in March, as a safety net against the highly probable diversion of the steel trade barred from the US market.
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2002)
