Brussels, 31/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission on Thursday suggested to member states that they impose 15% extra customs duties from 1 May on a certain number of American products imported into Europe in order to punish the American authorities' refusal to amend or delete the “Byrd Amendment”, an American anti-dumping law that has been declared illegal by the World Trade Organisation. The proposal should be approved formally by a Council decision, which should, according to diplomats, be adopted within the next few days. A Commission spokesperson confirmed that no additional meetings or negotiations were planned with representatives of the American administration before sanctions came into force.
A WTO panel in January 2003 condemned the “Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act” (known as the “Byrd Amendment”), by virtue of which the government redistributes to American businesses the antidumping income levied by customs as a result of enquiries opened at their instigation. Since the law was adopted in 2000, more than a billion dollars have been distributed to American companies in this way. The WTO stated, inter alia, that this law constituted an incitement to complain, a practice forbidden under international trade rules. Given that the period granted to Washington to amend the legislation expired in December 2003, the WTO in November 2004 authorised the EU and seven other plaintiffs to impose sanctions in the form of supplementary customs duties on American imports. In November 2004, the EU and the seven other countries concerned (Brazil, Canada, Chile, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico) deposited lists at the WTO specifying the American products to be hit with 15% extra duties from 1 May.
The sanctions to be applied from 1 May will apply to trade with a value of nearly 28 million dollars and will target the same imports as those targeted in the steel dispute, i.e. essentially textiles, paper, machines, shoes, fruit and vegetables. Diplomats explain that in choosing the American products to be targeted the Commission has been careful not to compromise the interests of European producers or importers, targeting only products whose share is less than 20% of total European imports. The total sanctions (currently 28 million dollars) will be reviewed and adjusted annually in line with the damage to European exporters occasioned by the Byrd Amendment. To this end the Commission has also adopted a “reserve list” of American products that would also be targeted if the damage sustained by European businesses were to increase in future years.