How Many WTO Members Will Argue that the Section 232 Steel/Aluminum Tariffs are Safeguard Measures?
China already made the argument that the Section 232 steel/aluminum tariffs are actually safeguard measures, both in a Safeguards Agreement consultations request and a DSU consultations request. Now both the EU and India have filed Safeguards Agreement consultations requests based on this same argument. The EU says the following about the Section 232 tariffs:
Notwithstanding the United States' characterisation of these measures as security measures, they are in essence safeguard measures.
India considers the above-mentioned measure of the United States to be an emergency action/safeguard measure within the meaning of Article XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and the Agreement on Safeguards.
Are any other countries going to pursue this line of argument? Will the decision whether or not to do so have an impact on whether a country's steel and aluminum are exempted from the tariffs?