Brussels, 15/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - As expected, on Tuesday the European Commission formally requested the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to authorise sanctions on the USA for failing to respect the verdict establishing the illegality of the Byrd Amendment. Legislation allowed for surcharges imposed on foreign competitors by US producers involved in anti-dumping or anti-subsidy procedures is still in place a year after it was condemned by the appeals body at the WTO and twenty days after the end of the deferment granted to Washington for repealing it. This provision, which as integrated in October 2000 to the US trade defence arsenal, has provoked major worries from the outset, as witnessed by the large number of plaintiffs in this case, pointed out Commissioner Lamy in a brief commentary. He said that he hoped that the USA would not take action to get rid of this measure and therefore avoid the risk of receiving sanctions. At this stage, nonetheless, the Commission is highlighting the purely procedural motivations for this approach, with the EU requesting the WTO's "green light" for exact deadlines for safeguarding its right to sanction US business if necessary (in the form of surcharges) and for defending the interests of European exporters affected by this measure. The amounts paid by these firms - especially for steel products (radial ball bearing and feeder (sheets), will determine the scale of the damages suffered as a result of this legislation and the value of the sanctions. This remains to be worked out later, which also goes for the list of US products targeted. Mr Lamy's spokesperson has now declared that for last year alone the illegal action cost European business around USD 70 million.