A government trade panel voiced doubts Wednesday about the fairness of U.S. antidumping and protectionist measures under the World Trade Organization's free trade rules.
Japan must "consider possible responses," including bringing U.S. antidumping action to the WTO, said the Subcommittee on Unfair Trade Policies and Measures of the Industrial Structure Council.
The panel, an advisory body to the minister of international trade and industry, made the recommendation in its annual report, "WTO Consistency of Trade Policies," regarding Japan's major trading partners. In the report, the subcommittee evaluates the trade policies and practices of the 12 WTO economies using "rule-based" criteria that follow WTO trade liberalization principles, rather than by "unilateral" or "results-oriented" criteria.
On steel trade, the report calls for a watch on U.S. moves to shorten an antidumping investigation period for hot-rolled steel products from Japan and other trading partners, arguing such administrative changes may violate WTO rules. "There is a need to seek assurance that the rights of the defendant companies (to contend dumping allegations) are not infringed (upon by such a move)," the report says. "Furthermore, Japan should closely monitor protectionist movements such as action under the (U.S.) Section 201 of the Trade Act (on steel wires) and under the Antidumping Act of 1916 (on hot-rolled steel)," because such protectionist and punitive measures are inconsistent with WTO principles, it adds.
Citing the recent U.S. decision to invoke its "Super 301" trade provision in dealing with the European Union's banana importing mechanism, the report says the U.S. tendency to use such unilateral retaliatory measures to press for negotiations is "problematic."
The report also urges the Japanese government to watch whether antidumping procedures such as anticircumvention measures by the U.S. and EU should be administered consistently by the WTO.