U.S. Mission to International
Organizations in Geneva

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.110)

The United States provided a status report in this dispute on January 9, 2012, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.

Legislative proposals have been introduced in the current 112th Congress that would implement the recommendations and rulings of the DSB.

The U.S. Administration will continue to work on solutions to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings.

B. UNITED STATES – ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES ON CERTAIN HOT-ROLLED STEEL PRODUCTS FROM JAPAN:  STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS184/15/ADD.110)

The United States provided a status report in this dispute on January 9, 2012, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.

As of November 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.

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.85)

The United States provided a status report in this dispute on January 9, 2012, 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.48)

The United States thanks the EU for its status report and its statement today.

Between today’s meeting and the last regularly-scheduled meeting in 2011, the EU approved four long-pending product applications, including three varieties of biotech maize.

Although the United States welcomes any movement in the EU system, these approvals hardly put a dent in the backlog of approximately 70 pending applications.

Further, the slow progress of these three maize applications illustrates U.S. concerns with the EU approval system.

The EU’s scientific authority issued positive safety assessments for these three varieties in May 2010, over 1 year and 8 months ago.

Under the EU’s legislation, these products should have been submitted to the EU’s regulatory committee within 3 months of May 2010.  The regulatory committee, which consists of EU member State representatives, should have proceeded to vote in accordance with the scientific assessments and approve the applications.

This, however, did not occur.  Instead, the applications were held up for well over a year in the EU’s approval process.  In all, the time taken after the scientific assessment – that is, from May 2010 until December 2011 – was 5 or 6 times longer than contemplated in the EU’s own law.

The delays for these products are unfortunately typical.  And as a result of such delays, U.S. maize products remain shut out of the EU market.

The United States hopes the EU will address these issues in the coming year.

E. UNITED STATES – MEASURES RELATING TO ZEROING AND SUNSET REVIEWS:  STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS322/36/ADD.28)

The United States provided a status report in this dispute on January 9, 2012, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.

In December 2010, the Arbitrator in the proceeding under Article 22.6 of the DSU in this dispute issued a communication stating that it had accepted a joint request by the parties to the dispute to suspend its work.

On January 9, 2012, in response to a joint request of the United States and Japan, the Arbitrator issued a communication stating that it has decided to continue further the suspension.  The communication of the Arbitrator has been circulated to the DSB in document WT/DS322/42.

As the United States explained in its status report, in December 2010 the U.S.

Department of Commerce announced a proposal to change the calculation of weighted average dumping margins and assessment rates in certain antidumping proceedings.  At this time, the U.S. Department of Commerce is continuing with its ongoing work on the proposal.

F. UNITED STATES – CONTINUED EXISTENCE AND APPLICATION OF ZEROING METHODOLOGY:  STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS350/18/ADD.25)

The United States has addressed the issue of compliance with the recommendations in this dispute in the status report provided on January 9, 2012, and earlier in today’s discussion of agenda item 1.E.  We refer Members to that report and statement for further details.

G. UNITED STATES – LAWS, REGULATIONS AND METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING DUMPING MARGINS (“ZEROING”):  STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS294/38/ADD.20)

The United States has addressed the issue of compliance with the findings in this dispute in the status report provided on January 9, 2012, and earlier in today’s discussion of agenda item 1.E.  We refer Members to that report and statement for further details. In addition, we note that in September 2010, the Arbitrator in the proceeding under Article 22.6 of the DSU in this dispute issued a communication stating that it had accepted a joint request by the parties to the dispute to suspend its work.

On January 16, 2012, in response to a joint request of the parties, the Arbitrator issued a communication stating that it has decided to continue the suspension.  The communication of the Arbitrator has been circulated to the DSB in document WT/DS294/42.
H. CHINA – MEASURES AFFECTING TRADING RIGHTS AND DISTRIBUTION SERVICES FOR CERTAIN PUBLICATIONS AND AUDIOVISUAL ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTS:  STATUS REPORT BY CHINA (WT/DS363/17/ADD.12)
The United States thanks China for its status report and its statement today.

As the United States has previously noted, we remain concerned by the lack of progress by China in bringing its measures relating to films for theatrical release into compliance with the DSB recommendations and rulings.

The United States also has significant concerns about the incomplete progress relative to China’s measures relating to audio visual home entertainment products, reading materials, and sound recordings.

The United States is conferring with China on these matters.  We hope that China will take steps to resolve this matter soon.

I. UNITED STATES – ANTI-DUMPING ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEWS AND OTHER MEASURES RELATED TO IMPORTS OF CERTAIN ORANGE JUICE FROM BRAZIL:  STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS382/11/ADD.1)

Madam Chair, the United States provided a status report in this dispute on January 9, 2012, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.

As noted in the status report, the United States informed the DSB on June 17, 2011, of its intention to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in this dispute.  Brazil and the United States agreed that the reasonable period of time to implement would expire on March 17, 2012.

As the United States explained in its status report, in December 2010 the U.S.

Department of Commerce announced a proposal to change the calculation of weighted average dumping margins and assessment rates in certain antidumping proceedings.  At this time, the U.S. Department of Commerce is continuing with its ongoing work on the proposal.

J. UNITED STATES – DEFINITIVE ANTI-DUMPING AND COUNTERVAILING DUTIES ON CERTAIN PRODUCTS FROM CHINA: STATUS REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS379/12)

The United States provided a status report in this dispute on January 9, 2012, in accordance with Article 21.6 of the DSU.

Earlier this week, on January 17, 2012, the United States and China notified the DSB that they had agreed to modify the “reasonable period of time” for implementation of the recommendations and rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), which was originally established pursuant to Article 21.3(b) of the DSU, so as to expire on April 25,

2012.  The notification has been circulated to the DSB in document WT/DS379/13.

The United States will continue to work on solutions to implement the DSB’s recommendations and rulings.

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.  This 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 during previous DSB meetings that the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act does not permit the distribution of duties collected on goods entered after October 1, 2007.

With respect to comments regarding further status reports in this matter, as we have 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 U.S. has made in the implementation of the DSB’s recommendations and rulings in these disputes.

5.  CHINA – ANTI-DUMPING AND COUNTERVAILING DUTY MEASURES ON BROILER PRODUCTS FROM THE UNITED STATES

A. REQUEST FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PANEL BY THE UNITED STATES (WT/DS427/2)

China has imposed antidumping and countervailing duties on chicken broiler products from the United States.

As the United States explained at the December 19, 2011 DSB meeting, China’s dumping and subsidy determinations appear to be inconsistent with China’s obligations under the GATT 1994, the Antidumping Agreement, and the Subsidies Agreement.

The apparent inconsistencies are set out in detail in the U.S. request for the establishment of a panel, and our concerns relate to every phase of China’s investigation.

In short, we believe that there were significant procedural and substantive deficiencies in the investigation, and that these determinations are therefore unsustainable under WTO rules.

Accordingly, the United States requests that the DSB establish a panel to examine the matter set forth in the U.S. panel request, with standard terms of reference.