WTO rules in India’s favour in steel dispute with U.S.

09/12/2014 12:00 - 497 Views

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled against the U.S. imposing high duty on imports of certain Indian steel products, an order hailed by India as a ‘significant victory’ that will help domestic manufacturers and exporters. The Appellate Body of the WTO has ruled that the high duty imposed by the U.S. on the certain Indian steel imports was ‘inconsistent’ with various provisions of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM).

India says major victory

“India has achieved a significant victory at the WTO, as the Appellate Body held that the Countervailing Duty (CVD) measures imposed by the U.S. against certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products are inconsistent with various provisions of the ASCM,” an official statement said. The move would definitely help domestic manufacturers, which had been suffering due to inconsistent practices by the U.S. Department of Commerce, it added.

The implication of this ruling is that the U.S. has to amend its domestic law to be WTO compliant.

“It has significant trade impact for India as out of the current 10 products on which U.S. has imposed CVD, about seven products suffer from the same inconsistency,” it said.

Source: The Hindu