Turkey and Madagascar told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards on Jan. 6 that they had each launched a pair of safeguard proceedings. On Dec. 31, Turkey opened safeguard proceedings on polyethylene terephthalate resin and terephthalic acid, giving interested parties 30 days from the official publication of the notice date to fill out questionnaires. On Dec. 24, Madagascar opened safeguard proceedings on plastic pipes, tubes and accessories and dry pastries and breakfast cereals, also giving parties 30 days from initiation of the investigation to submit comments.
Turkey opened a safeguard investigation on paper and paperboard on Dec. 31, the country told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards. Turkey said interested parties are required to fill out investigation questionnaires within 30 days from the date of publication of the safeguard announcement and submit it to the Ministry of Trade's Directorate General for Imports.
A recent antidumping petition on fresh winter strawberries from Mexico highlights a rarely used provision of the antidumping statute that allows the International Trade Commission to narrow the injury analysis to only a particular region in the U.S. Trade lawyers told us that there's clear statutory authority for a regional injury petition, but that the analysis may require a more pervasive showing of injury throughout the affected industry than an ordinary, nationwide injury analysis.
The U.S. critiqued the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), which has been adopted by various nations as an alternative to the defunct World Trade Organization Appellate Body, during a December meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body.
The U.S. requested consultations at the World Trade Organization with China last week concerning China's safeguard investigation on imported beef, which was opened in December 2024 and has been twice extended. Most recently, China's Ministry of Commerce extended the investigation through Jan. 26 (see 2511250038).
China filed a request for consultations at the World Trade Organization about Indian tariffs on information and communication technology products and subsidy measures for high efficiency solar photovoltaic modules, the WTO said Dec. 23.
World Trade Organization members on Dec. 19 agreed to let the EU impose countermeasures on imports from the U.S. due to U.S. violations of WTO rules in its antidumping duty and countervailing duty proceedings on Spanish ripe olives, the WTO announced.
China's Ministry of Commerce said the country has filed a request for consultations at the World Trade Organization over Indian tariffs on information and communication technology products and photovoltaic subsidy measures. China submitted the request Dec. 19, a ministry spokesperson said, adding that it suspects the duties and subsidies violate "several WTO obligations, including binding tariffs and national treatment, and constitute import substitution subsidies, which are expressly prohibited by the WTO."
Delegations to the World Trade Organization understand that if the WTO doesn't reform, things will get worse, rather than holding steady, according to Petter Olberg, Norway’s ambassador to the WTO and the man facilitating reform discussions.
Taiwan opened dispute consultations with Canada at the World Trade Organization regarding Canada's tariff rate quotas and surtax on certain steel goods and its global duty on certain steel derivative goods, the WTO announced. The consultations request formally opens a WTO dispute and gives the parties 60 days to resolve it, after which it will be sent to adjudication before a panel.