US, EU end WTO dispute on steel tariffs

The US and EU informed the World Trade Organization on Friday that they are terminating a panel dispute concerning steel and aluminium products. The two sides have instead agreed to arbitration in the matter, according to documents filed at the WTO and reviewed by Kallanish.

Late last year, the two sides came to an agreement in which the EU may send up to 3.3 million tonnes of steel products to the US free of the 232 tariffs currently imposed on steel and aluminium imports from most other countries. The agreement allows up to 384,000t of certain aluminium products from the EU to also enter the US tariff free. In response, the EU removed retaliatory tariffs placed on certain imports of US-made products.

The WTO Dispute Settlement Body procedures in this matter began in 2018 after then-US President Donald Trump imposed 10-25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium products as a matter of national security. The tariffs remain in place for many countries. The US has entered formal talks with Japan and the UK on an alternative to the tariffs like that of the EU’s.

Laura Miller USA