WTO rules in favor of US over steel dispute with Japan

The US acted legally when it left in place duties on imports of Japanese steel products, the WTO ruled Thursday.

Japan complained after Wash-ington decided in November 2000 that it needed to maintain a special duty of 36.41 percent on imports of corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Japan. It believed they were being "dumped" at below market price, which was affecting domestic steel producers.

Japan claimed the US had no reason to start a "sunset review" to decide whether to maintain the duties at the end of the original period of application, claiming US policies that require such reviews as a matter of course are against WTO rules.

It also claimed that the criteria used by the US Department of Commerce in the investigation were incorrect.

However, in a 375-page report, the WTO panel investigating the dispute rejected all 10 of Japan's claims.

"The panel concluded that the US action was consistent with US WTO obligations, rejecting all of Japan's challenges," said Richard Mills, spokesman for the office of the US Trade Representative.

Japan has 30 days to appeal.

Meanwhile, Nippon Steel Corp and JFE Holdings Inc said they don't expect sales to be hurt by the WTO's ruling.

The US accounted for 3 percent of Nippon Steel's exports in the year ended March 31, spokesman Takashi Kanke said. It accounted for 6 percent of exports last year by JFE's steel unit, said JFE spokesman Shuichiro Hayashi. Rising Asian demand will also reduce the impact of the decision, the companies said.

The WTO ruling gave the US its first victory in using tariffs to block foreign companies from dumping their goods at a discounted price.

Japan exported 32.65 million tonnes of steel in the year ended March. The US accounted for 1.18 million tonnes of the total, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said.

The impact of the decision is "negligible," Kanke said.