WTO urged to resolve tariff dispute

WASHINGTON/OSLO: The United States is requesting that a World Trade Organization dispute resolution panel get involved in a clash over international retaliation over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

The requests, filed on Thursday, cover tariffs by China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico, which followed the United States imposing a 25 percent duty on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminium imports, which it justified on national security grounds.

Canada, Mexico and China had also planned to ask for a WTO panel examining those tariffs, according to another government official familiar with the matter.

Earlier on Thursday, Norway said that it, the EU and other countries would seek the WTO dispute group´s help.

China has filed a request with the WTO to establish an expert group to determine the legality of the tariffs, its commerce ministry said late on Thursday.

In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said the U.S. decision to adjust the tariffs was an act of protectionism that seriously undermined multinational trade rules.