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India Escalates U.S. Steel Duties Dispute at WTO
Jul. 13, 2012 India has asked the World Trade Organization to set up a panel to adjudicate on its dispute with the United States over U.S. duties on some imports of Indian steel products, the WTO said on Friday.
India complained in April that Washington had wrongly slapped punitive tariffs, so-called countervailing duties, on certain hot rolled carbon steel flat products from India.
Countries impose countervailing duties when they believe their manufacturers are suffering because of competition from unfairly subsidized imports.
In its complaint India challenged countervailing duties going back to April 2001, as well as the United States Tariff Act of 1930 and the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, which it said were inconsistent with WTO rules.
By asking for a dispute panel to be set up, India is indicating that it has failed to resolve the issue via consultations with the United States.
The United States is also in dispute with China over the U.S. use of countervailing duties on a range of imports, including several types of steel products. China requested consultations on May 25 but has not yet asked for a panel to be set up.
Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/13/trade-steel-india-usa-idINL6E8IDCKC20120713