WASHINGTON DC - The United States today submitted a
proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Negotiating Group on Rules to
correct the Appellate Body’s rulings regarding offsets for non-dumped
comparisons in antidumping proceedings, often referred to as “zeroing.” The
paper was submitted as part of the ongoing Rules negotiations in the Doha
Development Agenda.
The United States has previously stated
its strong objections to recent dispute settlement rulings by the WTO Appellate
Body regarding zeroing. Accordingly, the United States is
now urging WTO Members to resolve this issue in the WTO negotiations by adopting
clear, precise rules permitting the use of zeroing in both investigations and
administrative reviews. The United States looks forward to
discussing its proposal with other WTO Members in the Rules Group meetings in
mid-June.
“Where the WTO issues dispute settlement rulings
contrary to the long-held understandings and practices of a wide variety of WTO
Members, it is important that Members take up that issue in the WTO
negotiations, so it is not simply left to the dispute settlement process, but
rather is resolved by rules actually agreed upon by Members,” said Warren
Maruyama, General Counsel of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
David. M. Spooner, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Import Administration, stated, "Because the practice of zeroing has resulted in
extensive litigation and conflicting judgments, Members' obligations under the
WTO remain unclear. The U.S. firmly believes the members of
the WTO need to engage in a frank and thorough discussion to resolve the issue
of zeroing."
Background
The WTO has issued a number of dispute settlement reports
dealing with the issue of offsets for non-dumped comparisons in various contexts
in antidumping proceedings, most recently in a January 2007 Appellate Body
report concerning a dispute between Japan and the United States. The
United
States strongly criticized the Appellate Body’s
findings in that report, both in statements at meetings of the WTO Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB), and in a detailed written submission to the DSB in
February 2007.
The paper submitted by the United States
will be available at www.ustr.gov
