Alacero: Brazil sets end-year timeline to file consultation at WTO over US duties on flats

Brazil should file by the end of the year a consultation within the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the duties the US has imposed over the Brazilian exports of HRC and CRC, a government official told participants of the Alacero congress, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from October 25-26.

 

According to vice-minister at the nation’s foreign trade ministry, MDIC, Fernando Furlan, Brazil will first try to keep a dialogue with the US, in a process called as “consultation,” in an attempt to avoid the petition becoming “too legal.”

 

“We don’t expect [to have a deal with the US on the matter], but we always bet on that. They will defend their move and we’ll defend ours,” said the vice-minister.
 
According to the WTO, the so called “bilateral consultations” between the involved parties are the first stage of a formal dispute settlement.

 

The WTO said it gives the parties an “opportunity” to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without resorting to litigation. Only after such mandatory consultations have failed to produce a satisfactory solution within 60 days may the complainant request adjudication by a panel.

 

“We’re consolidating our request within the WTO and we expect to present it by the end of the year, so we can, in the next year, go to the bilateral consultations in an attempt to reach an agreement with the US and then, if it doesn’t happen, we should open a specialist panel,” Furlan told SteelOrbis in the sidelines of the Alacero conference in Rio, while explaining the entire process.

 

According to Furlan, the panel phase could last as long as one year, but the responding party could appeal the panel decision, if it turns out positive for Brazil’s requests.

 

“When there’s a decision by the WTO and if it is contrary to the US, they can either stop with the duties or compensate them in any way or in any way accepted by the party demanding the consultation or panel,” Furlan added.