24/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 18 April, the European Commission welcomed the WTO ruling on US anti-dumping violations. The Appellate Body of the WTO has found the United States to be in breach of its WTO obligations for using 'zeroing' when calculating margins of dumping. Zeroing is a calculation method that 'consists of ignoring cases of 'negative' dumping, i.e. where export prices exceed normal value and therefore results in an artificial increase of the dumping liability of EU exporters,' explains European Commission DG Trade on its website. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson praised the WTO decision: 'Today's ruling is a positive step in establishing a level playing field in transatlantic trade.'