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India approaches WTO for panel against US legislation

BS Economy Bureau

India has approached the World Trade Organisation with a request for the establishment of a panel under the dispute settlement body against the US' Byrd Amendment.

An official statement said India had joined hands with the European Union, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, Korea and Thailand for settlement against the US legislation --Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act 2000, popularly called the Byrd Amendment.

The legislation makes it possible to distribute anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed and collected by the US on imports from other countries among the affected producers of the US.

"This legislation will result in the US domestic industry getting a second layer of protection from the effects of dumped and subsidised imports over and above those provided for in the WTO agreements," the release said.

It added that the dispute settlement body of the WTO would meet on July 24 to consider the request for the establishment of a panel to examine the concerned US legislation.

The WTO rules provide for the automatic establishment of a panel, the second time a request for establishment of a panel comes before the DSB. In February this year, India along with other countries had held consultations with the US on the Byrd Amendment. The consultations, however, failed to resolve the dispute.

"This joint action is a clear indication of the important systemic concerns that the legislation raises among the WTO members," the release said.

In the wake of the Byrd Amendment, certain sections of the Indian industry had also raised similar demands but the government did not take the demands seriously as it feared that the measure would not be WTO-compatible.

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