US requests WTO panel get involved in tariffs retaliation: report

The U.S. is requesting the World Trade Organization convene a dispute resolution panel to get involved in the growing dispute over international retaliation against American tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The request, which Reuters reports was submitted Thursday, is in regard to tariffs imposed by China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico, which were all placed after the Trump administration imposed a 25 percent duty on steel imports and a 10 percent tax on aluminum imports, which it said were based on national security concerns.

{mosads}Canada, Mexico, China and the EU also said it would seek the WTO’s help in resolving the dispute, yet the focus would be on Washington’s tariffs rather than their own. 

“We believe that additional U.S. duty on steel and aluminum is contrary to WTO rules,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement to Reuters.

“Therefore, together with the EU and several others, we asked today the WTO to establish a dispute resolution panel on the U.S. additional duty,” she said. 

The development marks the latest phase in a growing trade war between Washington and several of its trading partners, particularly Beijing. 

Last month Trump hit U.S. imports from China with a new 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in goods. Beijing retaliated with $60 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods. The president said he would raise those tariffs to 25 percent without a U.S.-China deal.

U.S. and China had exchanged about $50 billion in tariffs on each other’s goods over the summer.

Trump has threatened another $257 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods, which would cover all U.S. imports from China.