The World Trade Organization (WTO) said in Geneva Tuesday that its
Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) will meet on June 7 to consider the
request for the establishment of a panel by China to rule on the
legality of US steel tariffs.
China's panel request, in the first dispute it has brought to the
WTO since joining last December, following similar requests by the
European Union, Japan and South Korea.
According to WTO, at the June 3 meeting, DSB will consider the
second request for the establishment of a panel by the EU and the
first request for a panel by Japan and Korea.
China's request cannot be considered on June 3 because the deadline
has already passed for adding new items to the agenda.
EU's first request was blocked by the US last week. However,
according to WTO rules, Washington has no rights to block EU's
second request for a panel.
A
WTO official said that the EU, which filed its complaint first, is
due to be granted a panel on June 3 to investigate US tariffs of up
to 30 percent slapped on certain imported steel products in
March.
WTO said whether the complaints by these countries would be
considered together or not depends on the results of the
negotiation among these countries.
Switzerland, Norway, Brazil and New Zealand have also begun
consultations with Washington over the steel measures under dispute
settlement rules that could in addition lead to requests for
intervention by experts.
(China Daily May 29,
2002)