1. SURVEILLANCE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED BY THE DSB
A. UNITED STATES – SECTION 211 OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 1998: STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS176/11/ADD.89)
• Mr. Chairman, the United States provided a status report in this dispute on April 8, 2010, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.
• As has been noted, a number of legislative proposals that would implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in this dispute were introduced in the First Session of the
current (111th) Congress. The Second Session of the 111th Congress began in January.
• In addition, the U.S. Administration is working with Congress to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings.
[Second intervention:]
• In response to the statements by some Members that this dispute raises concerns for the dispute settlement system, as the United States has noted on several occasions, we do not
believe that those concerns are well-founded.
• In addition, as the United States noted at the previous DSB meeting, last month the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing on certain proposals to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in this dispute.
B. UNITED STATES – ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES ON CERTAIN HOT-ROLLED STEEL PRODUCTS FROM JAPAN: STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS184/15/ADD.89)
• The United States provided a status report in this dispute on April 8, 2010, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.
• As of November 23, 2002, the U.S. authorities had addressed the DSB’s recommendations and rulings with respect to the calculation of antidumping margins in the hot-rolled steel antidumping duty investigation at issue in this dispute. Details are provided in the document numbered WT/DS184/15/ADD.3.
• With respect to the recommendations and rulings of the DSB that were not already addressed by the U.S. authorities, the U.S. Administration will work with the U.S. Congress with respect to appropriate statutory measures that would resolve this matter.
C. UNITED STATES – SECTION 110(5) OF THE US COPYRIGHT ACT: STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS160/24/ADD.64)
• The United States provided a status report in this dispute on April 8, 2010, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.
• The U.S. Administration will continue to confer with the European Union, and to work closely with the U.S. Congress, in order to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of this matter.
D. EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – MEASURES AFFECTING THE APPROVAL AND MARKETING OF BIOTECH PRODUCTS: STATUS REPORT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION (WT/DS291/37/ADD.27)
• The United States thanks the EU for its status report and its statement today.
• As the United States noted at the March meeting of the DSB, the new Commission recently approved five long-pending biotech applications, including an application that was first filed in 1996.
• Although these five approvals represent less than ten percent of the total backlog of pending applications, the United States is hopeful that they indicate a new commitment on the part of the EU to address the longstanding problems in the operation of its approval system for biotech products.
• The United States looks forward to progress in the coming months.
E. UNITED STATES – MEASURES RELATING TO ZEROING AND SUNSET REVIEWS: STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS322/36/ADD.7)
• Mr. Chairman, the United States provided a status report in this dispute on April 8, 2010, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.
• As noted in the status report, the United States has taken steps to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in this dispute. With respect to the outstanding issues, the United States will continue to consult with interested parties in order to address those issues.
F. UNITED STATES – CONTINUED EXISTENCE AND APPLICATION OF ZEROING METHODOLOGY: STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS350/18/ADD.4)
• Mr. Chairman, the United States provided a status report in this dispute on April 8, 2010, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.
• As noted in that status report, the United States has taken steps to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in this dispute. With regard to the remaining issues, the United States will continue to consult with interested parties.
[Second intervention:]
• With respect to the EU’s comment regarding the lack of a status report in DS294, we would recall that this was the approach that the EU itself took in the original EC – Hormones dispute; when the EU objected to the U.S. and Canadian requests for authorization to suspend concessions, the EU ceased providing status reports.
• Here, too, the United States objected to the EU’s request for authorization, referring the matter to arbitration.
• The United States notes that that dispute is now pending before an arbitrator under Article 22.6 of the DSU, and that the hearing in that proceeding will be open to observation by all Members and the public.
2. UNITED STATES – CONTINUED DUMPING AND SUBSIDY OFFSET ACT OF 2000: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED BY THE DSB
A. STATEMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN UNION AND JAPAN
• As the United States has explained at previous DSB meetings, the President signed the Deficit Reduction Act into law on February 8, 2006. That Act includes a provision repealing the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000. Thus, the United States has taken all actions necessary to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in these disputes.
• We recall, furthermore, that Members have acknowledged that the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act does not permit the distribution of duties collected on goods entered after October 1, 2007.
• We therefore do not understand the purpose for which the EU and Japan have inscribed this item today.
• With respect to comments regarding further status reports in this matter, as we have already explained at previous DSB meetings, the United States fails to see what purpose would be served by further submission of status reports repeating the progress the United States made in the implementation of the DSB’s recommendations and rulings.
• We regret that the EU has decided to increase the level of its suspension of concessions and are perplexed at this decision.
• In the course of this dispute, the EU has made clear that its purpose in suspending concessions was to “induce compliance”. Now that the United States has taken all steps necessary to comply with the rulings and recommendations of this Body, we fail to see how the continued suspension of concessions will further that purpose.
• In any event, the United States will be reviewing carefully the new measures taken by the EU and has not concluded that it is able to share the EU’s characterization at this time. As we have observed previously, the DSB only authorized the suspension of concessions or other obligations as provided in the Award of the Arbitrator.
4. PHILIPPINES – TAXES ON DISTILLED SPIRITS
A. REQUEST FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PANEL BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS403/4)
• Mr. Chairman, as we mentioned at our previous meeting, the United States has been concerned with Philippine excise taxes on distilled spirits for many years.
• The Philippines taxes distilled spirits at different rates depending on the product from which the spirit is distilled. Spirits distilled from products typically produced in the Philippines are taxed at a low rate, while other distilled spirits are taxed at rates from approximately 10 to 40 times higher.
• As our panel request explains, these taxes appear to be inconsistent with the first and second sentences of Article III:2 of the GATT 1994.
• We continue to urge the Philippines to address the concerns that have been raised, and hope that the Philippines takes action soon to level the playing field for imported and domestic spirits in the Philippine market.
• However, given that our concerns have not been addressed to date, the United States requests that the DSB, pursuant to Article 9.1 of the DSU, refer this matter to the Panel that was established at the meeting of January 19th on the European Union’s complaint on the same matter (WT/DS396).
5. UNITED STATES – USE OF ZEROING IN ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES INVOLVING PRODUCTS FROM KOREA
A. REQUEST FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PANEL BY KOREA (WT/DS402/3)
• We are disappointed that Korea has chosen to move forward with a panel request today.
• As Korea acknowledged in its request, the U.S. Department of Commerce has discontinued zeroing in the context of average-to-average comparisons in investigations.
• The United States is not in a position to agree to the establishment of a panel today.
6. UNITED STATES – ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES ON CERTAIN SHRIMP FROM VIET NAM
A. REQUEST FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PANEL BY VIET NAM (WT/DS404/5)
- We are disappointed that Vietnam has chosen to move forward with a request for panel establishment.
- We also would like to point out that the panel request before the DSB today includes several items that raise concerns for the United States:
- For example, Vietnam identifies as measures in its panel request, among other things, the original antidumping investigation of shrimp from Vietnam as well as the “initiation” of the five-year sunset review. These items were not identified in Vietnam’s request for consultations and thus were not the subject of consultations.
- Additionally, the original antidumping investigation, as well as the first annual review of the antidumping order, were each initiated pursuant to applications received prior to Vietnam’s Accession to the WTO. Thus, pursuant to Article 18.3 of the AD Agreement, these proceedings are not subject to the AD Agreement and are not properly a subject of review by a WTO dispute settlement panel.
- The fourth administrative review, also identified by Vietnam as a measure in its panel request, has not yet been completed, and thus there is no measure for a panel to review.
- Likewise, the sunset review has yet to be completed, and thus does not constitute a measure. Finally, it is unclear from Vietnam’s panel request, which specifically identifies the “initiation” of the sunset review as a measure, what WTO obligations Vietnam alleges the United States has breached with respect to the sunset review.
- For all of these reasons, the United States strongly urges Vietnam to reconsider its decision to pursue a panel in this dispute, and we are not in a position to agree to the establishment of a panel at this time.
OTHER BUSINESS: CHINA – MEASURES AFFECTING THE PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
• The United States is surprised that China did not provide a status report today.
• Members will recall that March 20 was the expiration of the reasonable period of time for China to comply in this dispute.
• At the DSB meeting on March 19, China told Members that it had not yet brought into force all the measures needed to comply with the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in this dispute.
• While we thank China for its statement today, in light of the fact that China had not yet completed implementation by last month’s DSB meeting, we would have expected China to submit another status report this month. For example, we note that Colombia, earlier today, presented a status report in order to announce its claim of compliance to Members.
• While China has today stated that it has implemented the recommendations and rulings of the DSB with respect to its customs regime, we are not in a position to share China’s assessment at this time. We have begun working with China bilaterally on addressing certain questions we have, and look forward to further discussions with China on this issue.
[Second intervention:]
• In response to China’s intervention, the United States would point out that at the end of the last DSB meeting, the DSB agreed to revert to this matter at the present DSB meeting.
• Furthermore, as of the last DSB meeting the measures China says it has taken had not yet entered into force, and so, as of today, there was a lack of transparency to WTO Members regarding the status of those measures.