India dissatisfied with steel product dispute judgement, appeals against WTO.

​NEW DELHI: India appealed against a WTO ruling in the steel product dispute case on Friday, which was seen as a partial victory for the country. The WTO dispute panel in July had ruled that the countervailing duty imposed by the US on Indian steel exports was inconsistent with WTO law on subsidies. However, India was not happy with the methodology of subsidy calculation.

Countervailing duties are imposed on goods to counter export subsidies and prevent dumping and as per the 1964 Marrakesh Agreement these duties can only be levied when the exporters are "public bodies." India found faults in aspects of the ruling including the rejection of India's argument that state-run NMDC should not be considered as a public body.

"The panel did not consider some of India's claims such as those relating to the methods of calculating the amount of subsidies and one relating to the application of adverse fact available," India had said in a statement after the ruling.

US imposed Countervailing Duty (CVD) on India's exports of hot rolled carbon steel flat products involving steelmakers like Tata, Jindal and Essar who are supplied ore by the state-run iron-ore mining firm, NMDC.

Meanwhile, the government is also undertaking an evaluation all other products of Indian origin on which the US has applied the same provision to arrive at CVD. "This ruling potentially questions the validity of a number of other CVD proceedings conducted by the US on products of Indian origin," said commerce department had said in the statement.

Parties to a dispute can appeal a panel's ruling based on legal interpretation. Each appeal is heard by three members of a permanent seven-member Appellate Body comprising persons of recognised authority and unaffiliated with any government.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com