The United States filed an appeal Wednesday with the World Trade Organization over its ruling that part of U.S. antidumping measures imposed in 1999 against hot-rolled steel imports from Japan violate WTO trade agreements.
The WTO's dispute-settlement panel issued a final report on Feb. 28, ruling that the antidumping margins as determined by the U.S. Commerce Department are adverse to the Japanese steelmakers and violate the WTO's antidumping agreement.
The WTO panel further ruled that the U.S. trade laws used for calculating the dumping margins assessed for Japanese steelmakers not directly involved in the U.S. antidumping adjudication are also inconsistent with the antidumping agreement.
The ruling, if upheld by the WTO appellate panel, could lead to a U.S. review of its antidumping laws as the WTO panel found fault not only with the procedures involved in assessing the margins but also with some elements of U.S. antidumping laws.
The Japanese government has argued that the U.S. antidumping measures are not justified and violate WTO antidumping rules.
The U.S. has rejected the Japanese argument, insisting that its authorities have used the most accurate figures possible in determining dumping margins.
The U.S. International Trade Commission slapped punitive duties of up to 67 percent against Japanese steelmakers in June 1999. Japan filed the trade beef with the WTO in November 1999.