European Communities and Japan request sanctions against the United States in the “Anti-Dumping Act of 1916” case

At a Dispute Settlement Body meeting on 18 January 2002, the European Communities and Japan simultaneously requested the right to suspend concessions against the United States in the dispute case concerning the US' Anti-Dumping Act of 1916. The US immediately requested arbitration and the DSB agreed to refer the arbitration to the original panel.

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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.

Panel established

DS238: Argentina — Definitive safeguard measure on imports of preserved peaches

Following Chile's second request, the DSB agreed to establish a panel to examine the case against Argentina. After the DSB so agreed, Chile, however, requested that the process be halted. Chile said it wanted to keep some space to find an agreement with Argentina.

Requests for sanctions

DS136 - DS162 United States — Anti-Dumping Act of 1916
> DS136: reports only > DS162: reports only

The European Communities and Japan simultaneously requested authorization to suspend concessions against the United States. The US should have implemented by 20 December 2001, they said. Instead of increasing tariffs on goods coming from the US, the EC and Japan proposed to apply anti-dumping rules against American goods similar to the anti-dumping rules currently applied by the US. The US immediately requested arbitration on the level of the suspension of concessions and the DSB agreed to refer the matter to the original panel. All parties to the dispute agreed, however, that arbitration would be suspended for a while to give the US Congress another chance to repeal the law.

A number of WTO members expressed systemic concerns about the nature of the sanctions proposed by the EC and Japan. If the US measure is not compatible with WTO rules, why should similar measures applied by the EC and Japan be acceptable, they asked..

DS160: United States — Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act
> DS160: reports only

The European Communities requested authorization to suspend concessions against the United States. The EC proposed as a retaliation to suspend some of its obligations vis-à-vis the US under the TRIPS (Intellectual Property) Agreement. The US requested arbitration on the level and nature of sanctions and the DSB agreed to refer the matter to the original panelists. The two parties agreed, however, that arbitration would be suspended to allow the US Congress more time to repeal the law.

Other business

Under other business, Colombia and Costa Rica complained that they had not been allowed to join the consultations between Thailand and the European Communities on EC: General system of preferences (DS242).

Next meeting

A special meeting of the DSB will take place on 29 January 2002. The next regular meeting of the DSB will be on 1 February 2002.

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