GENEVA, April 8 (Reuters) - Japan kept up pressure on the United States on Tuesday over a controversial method used by Washington to deal with unfairly priced imports.

Japan is asking a World Trade Organisation panel to rule on whether the United States has complied with previous rulings in a dumping case, according to the agenda for the next meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on April 18, issued on Tuesday.

Japan had previously sought authority to impose up to $250 million a year in extra tariffs on American goods to retaliate against the U.S. method of setting duties on imports Washington says are dumped -- unfairly sold more cheaply than at home.

The case turns on a method of calculating anti-dumping duties known as zeroing, which is used by Washington but rejected by the rest of the WTO's 151 members.

Critics say zeroing results in duties higher than necessary.

The case was referred to WTO arbitration in January because Washington objected to the level of sanctions sought by Japan.

But the arbitration will be suspended while the WTO determines whether the United States has complied with earlier rulings.

Under a U.S.-Japanese procedural agreement last month, the United States agreed not to object to the creation of the WTO panel to determine whether it had revised its trade rules in line with a WTO ruling in January 2007.

The dispute, launched in 2004, originally centred on U.S. anti-dumping measures against Japan's bearings industry, but Japan has said it reserves the right to retaliate against the full range of U.S. goods.

WTO panels and appeal courts have consistently ruled against zeroing, but Washington wants the method to be formally recognised in rules now being negotiated in the long-running Doha round to clinch a new global trade deal.

Reuters, Tuesday April 8 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk