WTO Appellate Body rules in favour of US on CVD Orders
The Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) issued its report in contrary with the previous panel decision that the US legislation was inconsistent with the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. However, it approved the Panel finding that the US violated the Agreement with its imposing and maintaining the countervailing measures on steel products imported from the privatized steel companies of the EU, with the lack of determination with regard to the existence of these subsidies. The dispute was derived from the claim of the US that these companies benefited from the subsidies granted to the state owned companies after having been privatised. The US authorities are now expected to formulate a methodology to reinvestigate and determine whether the European companies benefited from earlier subsidies. The companies subject to these countervailing duty orders are Usinor of France, Corus (formerly British Steel) of the UK, Accai Speciali Terni (AST), Cogne Accaiai Speciali (Cogne) and ILVA of Italy, SSAB Sventskt Stal (SSAB) of Sweeden, Dillinger Huttenwerke Saarstahl (Dillinger) of Germany and Arceralia of Spain. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body ruled in favour of the EU back in August 2002, finding the US action illegal when implementing countervailing duties on these eight formerly state-owned steel companies of the Union.