USTR Ron Kirk on WTO Trade Enforcement
From Reuters:
But in the same news conference, Kirk also made clear his dislike for WTO litigation, which can take years to resolve and often produce mixed results.
"My guiding principle is that where we can get issues resolved through direct negotiations, no matter how difficult they are, we're so much better served than saying 'I'm going to go to the WTO and file a case'," Kirk said.
"Because part of my concern was the number of matters we have with trade partners that have been at the WTO five years, 10 years, 20 years. Because at that point, you've got a war of wills between lawyers who are each concerned they're right."
In keeping with that philosophy, Kirk has filed just two WTO cases -- one against excise taxes the Philippines imposes on imported liquor and another in conjunction with the European Union against China's export restraints on raw materials used in the production of steel.
For what it's worth, here are the cases filed by the U.S. since Jan 20, 2009:
| Dispute Name | DS Number |
Complainant(s) | Respondent | Request Date | Agreements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philippines - Taxes on Distilled Spirits | 403 | United States | Philippines | Jan 14, 2010 | GATT |
| China - Measures Related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials | 394 | United States | China | Jun 23, 2009 | GATT, Protocol of Accession |
And here are the cases filed against the U.S. since Jan 20, 2009:
| Dispute Name | DS Number |
Complainant(s) | Respondent | Request Date | Agreements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States - Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes | 406 | Indonesia | United States | Apr 07, 2010 | GATT, SPS, TBT |
| United States - Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Shrimp from Viet Nam | 404 | Viet Nam | United States | Feb 01, 2010 | AD, GATT, Protocol of Accession, WTO |
| United States - Use of Zeroing in Anti-Dumping Measures Involving Products from Korea | 402 | Korea | United States | Nov 24, 2009 | AD, GATT |
| United States - Measures Affecting Imports of Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tyres from China | 399 | China | United States | Sep 14, 2009 | GATT, Protocol of Accession, Safeguards |
| United States - Certain Measures Affecting Imports of Poultry from China | 392 | China | United States | Apr 17, 2009 | Agriculture, GATT, SPS |
It may be worth noting that 3 of the 5 cases filed against the U.S. were trade remedy cases; without trade remedies, it's 2 filed by and 2 filed against. Will the U.S. ever make it a regular practice to challenge foreign trade remedy actions?
ADDED: For example, this one:
One of three possible new cases Kirk was asked about on Friday involves a specialty steel product made by Allegheny Technologies Inc, which hosted him for his speech.
The company's grain-oriented electrical steel, which is used in high-efficiency transformers, electric motors and generators, was hit this year with Chinese anti-dumping and countervailing duties it says are unjustified.