WTO: 2005 NEWS ITEMS
Dispute Settlement Body 14 January 2005
The DSB establishes compliance panel to examine US implementation of softwood lumber case — Canada's request for sanctions is referred to arbitration
At its meeting held on 14 January 2005, Canada requested that a panel examine the United States' implementation in the case “United States — Final countervailing duty determination with respect to certain softwood lumber from Canada” (DS257) and the Dispute Settlement Body referred the matter to the original panel. Canada also requested the right to apply sanctions against the US but the US asked for arbitration on the amount of sanctions.
SEE ALSO:
> press
releases
> news
archives
> Supachai
Panitchpakdi's speeches
> Disputes in the WTO
> Find disputes cases
> Find disputes documents
> Disputes chronologically
> Disputes by subject
> Disputes by country
NOTE:
This summary has been prepared by the WTO Secretariat’s Information and
Media Relations Division to help public understanding about developments
in WTO disputes. It is not a legal interpretation of the issues, and it is
not intended as a complete account of the issues. These can be found in
the reports themselves and in the minutes of the Dispute Settlement
Body’s meetings.
Request for compliance panel establishment
DS257: US – Final countervailing duty determination with respect to certain softwood lumber from Canada
Canada argued that the US had failed to comply
with the recommendations and rulings of the DSB since it continued to
impose countervailing duties based on a presumption, rather than a
demonstration, of the existence of alleged subsidies. Canada requested
[see document
WT/DS257/15] that the matter be examined by a compliance
panel under DSU Article 21.5.
The US responded that it had fully implemented the recommendations and
rulings within the agreed period of time and that it had issued a new
countervailing duty determination with respect to softwood lumber from
Canada prior to the expiration of the deadline. The US said that it
disagreed with Canada that the new determination was not consistent with
the Subsidies Agreement and GATT 1994.
The DSB agreed to refer the matter to the original panel. The EC reserved
its third party rights.
Request for sanctions back to top
DS257: US – Final countervailing duty determination with respect to certain softwood lumber from Canada
Canada requested the authorization to suspend application to the US of its
concessions or other obligations in an amount established yearly,
equivalent to the level of nullification and impairment caused by improper
US implementation. In a document submitted to the DSB [WT/DS257/16],
Canada indicated that its sanctions would cover trade to the amount of
C$200 million.
The US said that in a note circulated on 13 January 2005 it had objected
to the levels of suspension of concessions proposed by Canada and that the
matter had therefore been automatically referred to arbitration.
The DSB agreed that the matter was referred to arbitration.
Following an agreement before the meeting between Canada and the US, the
proceedings concerning the sanctions were suspended until the adoption of
the rulings in the Article 21.5 compliance proceedings.
back to top
Other business
DS268: US — Sunset reviews of anti-dumping measures on oil country tubular goods from Argentina
The US announced that it intended
to implement the recommendations and rulings of the DSB in this case but
that it would require a reasonable period of time to do so.
Argentina said that implementation required that the US lift immediately
its measures and that it was ready to consult with the US on a reasonable
period of time.
Next meeting
The next regular meeting of the DSB will take place on 25 January 2005.
> help
You can perform more sophisticated searches from the Documents Online search facility (opens in new window) by defining multiple search criteria such as document code WT/DSxxx (where “xxx” is the case number), full text search or document date.