Russia’s dispute with the United States on aluminium and steel duties imposed by Washington in March 2018 is unlikely to end by December this year, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin told TASS news agency.
“We are continuing our litigation, the procedures are not quick. It’s clear that most likely the US will oppose the decisions. This issue generally bumps into the WTO’s reforms and settling the issue with an appeal authority. This dispute is unlikely to be ironed out by December,” Oreshkin said, speaking at a G20 ministerial meeting on trade and digital economy in Tsukuba.
The United States developed the controversial tariffs on March 23, 2018. Currently, 25% duties are in effect for steel products from all countries except Australia, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea, and 10% duties are in effect for aluminium imports to the U.S. from all countries except Australia and Argentina.
In June 2018, Russia filed a claim with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge extra U.S. duties on steel and aluminium.
“Russia claims the U.S. duties of 25% and 10% on imports of steel and aluminum products respectively are inconsistent with provisions of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards,” the Russian claim said, according to the WTO press service.
At the time, it was the seventh complaint initiated by WTO members against U.S. duties on steel and aluminum. China, India, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Norway filed similar complaints to WTO earlier.
