In response to the complaints received from various countries, the
WTO (World Trade Organisation) has agreed to set up panels at its Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB) to decide whether U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium
imports comply with WTO rules.
China along with EU, Mexico, Norway, Mexico, Norway, Russia,
Canada, and Turkey has protested against the tariffs imposed by Washington
which they said are not for national security reasons but for economic
interests.
In June 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump has outraged U.S. trading
partners by erecting a tariff wall against imports of steel and aluminum -
justified by U.S. national security concerns - and has hit Chinese goods with
huge tariffs over accusations of stealing U.S. intellectual property.
Subsequently seven WTO members -- Canada, China, the EU, India,
Mexico, Russia, and Turkey -- have imposed retaliatory levies on more than USD
25 billion worth of U.S. goods in response to the American tariffs.
With WTO’s decision to set up panels at DSB, both the sides have
accused each other of hypocrisy. While U.S. representative believes that WTO
should throw out a lawsuit brought by China, along with those brought by the
European Union, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia and Turkey, because WTO rules
allowed exceptions for actions taken for national security concerns.
Some (WTO) members have expressed concerns that invoking the
national security exception in these circumstances would undermine the
international trading system.
The WTO has long avoided this politically fraught confrontation.
According to market sources, if the trade organization decides in favor of the
U.S., the decision could coax the body’s 164 members to use ‘the national
security justification’ to impose protectionist measures for economic gain; if
it rules against the U.S., President Donald Trump could decide to leave the WTO
entirely.
Source: steel mint