U.S. Requests WTO Dispute Settlement Panel in Challenge to EU High-Tech Product Tariffs
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that the U.S., together with Japan and Chinese Taipei, have requested the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel (DSP) to review whether the European Union has failed to accord duty-free treatment to certain products covered by the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA)1 and thus entitled to such treatment.
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U.S. Requests DSP Because Consultations Failed to Resolve the Dispute
As U.S. WTO consultations with the EU have been unsuccessful in resolving the dispute, the U.S. is requesting that a DSP be established to determine whether the EU is acting consistently with its WTO obligations. (Requesting a panel is the next step in the formal WTO dispute settlement process. The U.S. requested WTO consultations with the EU on May 28, 2008, and consultations were held in late June and mid July.)
Japan and Chinese Taipei also requested consultations with the EU on May 28 and June 12, 2008, respectively, and have joined the U.S. in requesting the establishment of a DSP.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/30/08 news, 08053015, for BP summary of the U.S.' request for WTO consultations.)
U.S. is Challenging EU Duties on Products that Incorporate New Duties
According to the USTR, the EU in the past several years has adopted a series of measures that resulted in new duties on imports of specific high-tech products - cable boxes that can access the internet, flat panel computer monitors, and certain computer printers that can also scan, fax and/or copy, which were included in the ITA.
The U.S. is challenging the EU's claim that it can charge duties on these products simply because they incorporate newer technologies or features that did not exist when the ITA was concluded, which the USTR states could impair continued technological development in the information technology industry and raise prices for millions of businesses and consumers.
1The ITA is agreement among a subset of WTO Members, including the U.S. and the EU, that commits them to accord duty-free treatment, on a non-discriminatory (i.e., Most Favored Nation) basis to imports of information technology products.
USTR notice (dated 08/18/08) available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/August/United_States_Requests_WTO_Panel_in_Challenge_to_EU_High-Technology_Tariffs.html