Japan hopes the United States will withdraw its steel import curbs following an interim decision on the matter by the World Trade Organization, a top bureaucrat of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Thursday.
"Although we are not sure what action the U.S. will take, we hope it will retract its measures soon," METI Vice Minister Seiji Murata told a news conference.
Diplomatic sources said Wednesday that a WTO panel investigating complaints from Japan and other countries regarding steel import curbs imposed by the U.S. last year has informally ruled that the restrictions violate WTO rules.
In Washington, a senior administration official said that the U.S. would file an appeal to the WTO Appellate Body if the WTO panel retains this position in its final report.
The interim report concludes that the U.S. clearly failed to satisfy the conditions stipulated by the WTO in invoking these import safeguard measures.