India, which earlier submitted at the World Trade Organization a list of retaliatory tariffs for the U.S.'s Section 232 action, now has filed a case challenging the action's legality. On May 23, it circulated a request for consultations with the U.S., the first step before a panel can be convened to consider the dispute. India points not only to the fact that countries are being treated differently, but also says that the Commerce Department is using voluntary export restraints and quotas to protect domestic producers. Both are against the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ( GATT) rules, India alleges.
With Europe's steel and aluminum tariffs exemption expiring in eight days, European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told reporters in Brussels that the U.S. may not accept the bloc's trade concessions. According to a report in The Guardian, the EU has offered to up LNG imports from the U.S., change the terms of trade on cars and discuss World Trade Organization reforms, but all of these are conditioned on the U.S. dropping the threat of tariffs. According to The Guardian, Malmstrom said on May 22: “Is this going to be enough? I am not sure, frankly."
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of May 23 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The European Union recently issued the following trade-related release (notices of most significance will be given separate headlines):
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of May 21 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna announced on May 17 that it is ending a ban on trade in specimens of CITES-listed wildlife species with Dominica. The 2013 ban came into effect Jan. 30 after the Caribbean country failed to file annual reports required by international agreement (see 1801310025). CITES is now lifting the recommendation to suspend trade because Dominica recently filed the reports.
Guinea-Bissau is extending until the end of 2018 an exemption for existing stockpiles of Pterocarpus erinaceus (kosso, sometimes also known as African rosewood) from export restrictions under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES said in a notification dated May 17. Though exports of logs of the wood were banned in January following the CITES listing of the species in January 2017 (see 1801230014), some 15 million cubic meters of pre-convention logs remain to be exported, CITES said. Exports of the pre-convention logs will not be allowed after Dec. 31, CITES said.
The European Union submitted to the World Trade Organization on May 18 the list of products it will impose 25 percent tariffs on if the U.S. does not spare it from steel and aluminum tariffs next month. The initial list, which runs to 181 items, is designed to counteract the tariffs on almost $7.2 billion worth of steel and aluminum that will be subject to duties from the United States under Section 232. Only 1.2 billion of that is aluminum. The EU could begin collecting tariffs on these items as soon as June 20. The list includes peanut butter, orange juice, cigarettes, steel, pipes, motorcycles and yachts.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of May 18 (some may also be given separate headlines):
South Korea began a World Trade Organization challenge of recent Section 201 safeguard duties imposed by the U.S. on large residential washers and solar cells and modules, the WTO said in a news release. South Korea requested consultations with the U.S. on May 16, saying “the measures are inconsistent with a number of provisions under the WTO's Agreement on Safeguards and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994,” the WTO said. Under WTO rules, South Korea may request the formation of a panel to adjudicate the case if consultations don’t resolve the dispute after 60 days. South Korea’s challenge follows a dispute on the safeguard duties filed by China in February (see 1802070022).