The World Trade Organization (WTO) has announced that the US has declined India’s request for consultations regarding the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
As response to India’s request, the US has stated that President Donald Trump issued the steel and aluminum proclamations pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, under which he determined that tariffs are necessary to adjust imports of steel and aluminum articles that threaten to impair the national security of the US and added that these actions are not safeguard measures, and, therefore, there is no basis to conduct consultations under the WTO’s Agreement on Safeguards with respect to these measures.
According to the WTO’s statement, the US said that it is open to discuss this or any other issue with India, adding that any discussions regarding the proclamations would not be under the WTO’s Agreement on Safeguards and would be without prejudice to its view that the proclamations are not safeguard measures.