Brussels/Geneva, 05/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Union has blocked the first request for arbitration that the United States delivered in Geneva at the beginning of the week against the safeguard measure imposed in March 2002 in order to stop any potential diversion of steel deliveries subject to US surcharges (see Europe of 30 august 2002, p.4). But it is simply put off for another time. When Washington renews its request of the settlement panel, probably on 1 October 2002, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) settlement board will have to automatically endorse it. According to close sources, the US is criticising the EU for totally failing to prove that the US "defence" mechanisms caused a substantial rise in steel exports to the EU when it invoked the multilateral safeguard clause. The EU maintains that the US restrictions are in reality unilateral projectionist measures imposed on the rest of the world and objects that the mass influx of products normally sold in the US was more than likely and that this strong likelihood was sufficient for justifying its taking measures in order to safeguard the health of its own market.
The United States have also gone on the offensive in a different steel dispute with the EU. The US is appealing against the judgement of a panel that ruled in July 2002 that US compensation duties on the import of various German steel products (carbon anti-corrosion treated plates) were illegal.