Associated Press | By NAOMI KOPPEL, Associated Press Writer
GENEVA (AP) -- The World Trade Organization ruled Wednesday that the United States had acted illegally in deciding to increase duties on Japanese steel imports.
A panel of trade experts said the U.S. Department of Commerce had been wrong when it refused to consider information from three Japanese steel companies because their submissions had arrived late.
The increased duties were put in place in June 1999 after U.S. steel companies and steelworkers associations complained that Japanese hot-rolled steel was being "dumped" at below-market prices, making it impossible for U.S. producers to compete.
The department carried out an investigation and upheld the claim. Extra duties were also imposed on steel from Brazil and Russia. Japan took its complaint to the WTO last year.
In its 713-page report, the panel said the U.S. department's conclusion that the Japanese companies had failed to cooperate was "not a decision that could properly be made by an unbiased and objective investigating authority."
It ordered the United States to "bring its measures into conformity" but rejected a suggestion by Japan that they should order Washington to remove the duties immediately.
It also rejected claims by Japan that the department had acted too hastily in making a determination of "critical circumstances" which allowed it to impose retroactive duties.
The United States has 60 days to appeal.
In another ruling released Wednesday, a WTO arbitrator said Washington had until July 26 to comply with a WTO decision last year that its 1916 Anti-Dumping Act is illegal.
The law, created to fend off unfair competition after the end of World War I, had been considered obsolete until the U.S. company Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. brought a lawsuit against importers of Russian and Japanese hot-rolled steel in 1998.
The WTO investigated following a complaint by the European Union and supported by Japan.
The panel looking at the case said the law was illegal because it allowed for fines and imprisonment for companies and individuals found guilty of dumping, as well as the payment of damages. Under WTO rules, import tariffs are the only remedies allowed to combat dumping.
Late last year, the WTO ruled in favor of South Korea in a similar dispute over anti-dumping duties for steel. Seoul said the duties had been wrongly calculated. The United States has appeal against that ruling.Associated Press:
