Japan extends tariffs on US ball bearings and steel products

Upon approval from the Japanese cabinet, the Japanese government will maintain a 15 percent punitive tariff on a total of 15 items from the US, including ball bearings and steel products. The tariffs are in response to the Byrd Amendment, a controversial US anti-dumping trade law that the US has repealed, but will stay into effect until October 1, 2007. The measures would be effective beginning September 1, 2006 through August 31, 2007 and could amount to a total cost of 51 million USD. After the Japanese government started its first-ever trade sanctions against the US in response to the Byrd Amendment, a legislation which distributed duties and tariffs from foreign companies to US companies that the government deemed adversely affected by low-priced imports, US Congress decided in February 2006 to rescind the legislation. However, the amendment will stay in place until October 1, 2007, and Japanese government officials said Japan will extend the punitive tariffs, as the act was ruled illegal by the WTO in 2003.