Japan approves tit-for-tat tariffs on US steel

Japan approves tit-for-tat tariffs on US steel

Tokyo announced today that the Cabinet formally approved the imposition of a 15 percent retaliatory tariff on many US goods, including steel products, as of September 1, 2005. The tariffs are a response to the US antidumping measures known as the Byrd Amendment. Under the Byrd Amendment, the US government distributed more than $1 billion to companies that sought government protection from low-priced imports. Many countries, including EU members, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to allow them to impose retaliatory tariffs against the Byrd Amendment. These countries claimed that the Byrd Amendment provided US companies an unfair trade advantage. The WTO, in November 2004, approved the imposition of $150 million sanctions on US goods. Because the US refused to repeal the Byrd Amendment, the EU and Canada imposed 15 percent duties on a range of US goods, including agricultural, machinery and textile products, starting from May 1, 2005. Likewise, now the Japanese government will impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports. However, Tokyo did say that if the Byrd Amendment is repealed by September 1, 2005, the tariffs would not be imposed.