The United States has requested WTO dispute consultations with Canada, China, the European Union, Mexico and Turkey regarding additional duties imposed by the five WTO members on imports of certain US products. The request was circulated to WTO members on 19 July.
The duties were imposed in response to the additional duties imposed by the United States on steel and aluminium products. The United States claims the actions by the five WTO members are inconsistent with provisions of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994.
Further information is available in documents WT/DS557/1, WT/DS558/1, WT/DS559/1, WT/DS560/1 and WT/DS561/1.
What is a request for consultations?
The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO. Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.
Source: wto.org