US import penalties new problem for WTO pact
Friday, 14 December 2007
GENEVA, Dec 13 (Reuters): The United States squared off against other World Trade Organisation (WTO) members yesterday over its use of import penalties, an issue diplomats see as the latest obstacle to a new global trade deal.
WTO judges have repeatedly struck down the US method of calculating anti-dumping duties-known as "zeroing"-as contrary to international trade rules, because it results in higher-than-merited charges on goods entering the United States.
But Washington says the practice is allowable under current global trade rules, penned in the 1994 Uruguay round accord, and has signalled that any agreement emerging from the six-year-old Doha round of talks must recognise its validity.
WTO judges have repeatedly struck down the US method of calculating anti-dumping duties-known as "zeroing"-as contrary to international trade rules, because it results in higher-than-merited charges on goods entering the United States.
But Washington says the practice is allowable under current global trade rules, penned in the 1994 Uruguay round accord, and has signalled that any agreement emerging from the six-year-old Doha round of talks must recognise its validity.