[ferro-alloys.com]The United States has rejected an appeal from India and Switzerland to set up a panel against the US for imposing high import duties on certain steel and aluminium products. Both the countries will now have to file a second request at the dispute settlement body's (DSB) next meeting which the US will not be authorised to reject.

India had asked to establish panels after it failed to resolve the issue through a bilateral consultation process with the US under the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

"The two argued that the US actions were, in effect and content, safeguard measures and that they were both concerned the US was using national security as a justification for the tariffs,” a Geneva-based official told BusinessLine.

The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) agreed on Wednesday, November 21, to establish panels to review U.S tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium on a host of countries. There were complaints from European Union, China, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia and Turkey.

Switzerland said the US import tariffs on aluminium and steel will have a harmful effect on the multilateral trading system as a whole and that it was concerned the spiralling protectionist measures will have a negative effect on global value chains. India said the WTO system will be undermined if it fails to allow for review of another member's unilateral actions, according to news published by BusinessLine.

（Alcircle.com）

• [Editor:王可]