Russia has filed a claim in the World Trade Organization (WTO) against U.S. dumping duties on hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon-quality steel, the WTO’s press service said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
“The Russian Federation has requested WTO dispute consultations with the United States concerning the continued application of U.S. anti-dumping duties on imports of carbon-quality steel from Russia,” the WTO says.
Russia believes that the measures at issue are inconsistent with various provisions of the WTO’s Anti-Dumping Agreement.
Measures introduced by the United States “appear to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to Russia directly or indirectly” under the Anti-Dumping Agreement and GATT, the Russian delegation says in its letter posted on the WTO website.
“Russia reserves the right to raise additional factual and legal issues, and to address additional measures and claims regarding the above matters, in the course of the consultations and in any request for the establishment of a panel,” the letter says.
The Russian complaint listed eight separate U.S. announcements between 1999 and February 2019 that Russia said broke WTO rules. The United States has 60 days in which to settle the dispute. After that period, Russia could ask the WTO to adjudicate.
The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO. Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.
Last month, Russia’s Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said the dispute with the United States on aluminum and steel duties imposed by Washington in March 2018 is unlikely to end by December this year.
