LatinNews Daily - 08 June 2018

* Mexico has filed a formal complaint before the World Trade Organisation (WTO), requesting the initiation of WTO dispute consultations against the US regarding the US imposition of steel and aluminium import tariffs. The tariffs were imposed on Mexico on 31 May when an exemption was lifted for some of the US’s trading partners. The Mexican government announced in response that it would impose retaliatory tariffs on certain US goods. The petition for consultations officially commences a dispute in the WTO framework of which the first stage is the 60-day consultation process between the parties which offers the opportunity to resolve the dispute bilaterally. If such discussions fail within this time frame, the claimant country may request adjudication by a WTO panel. Mexico’s complaint follows similar filings before the WTO by Canada and the European Union, both circulated to WTO members on 6 June. In the document submitted to the WTO, Mexico rejects the US justification of the import tariffs as a matter of national security, instead stating that “clearly, the establishment of an additional import tax is intended to protect the US industry from the economic effects of imports”. Mexico claims that the imposition of US tariffs violates the WTO Agreement on Safeguards as well as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

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