The United States on Monday, July 16, 2018, launched five separate trade disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO) challenging trade partners’ retaliatory tariffs.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the U.S. is filing cases against China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey after each imposed new tariffs on U.S. exports in response to President Trump slapping steep tariffs on aluminum and steel over national security interests.

In March 2018, Trump hit steel imports with a 25 percent tariff and imposed a 10 percent tariff on aluminum coming into the United States. U.S. trading partners then responded by levying billions in tariffs on a variety of U.S. goods. In early April 2018, China imposed 15–25 percent additional duties on $3 billion in U.S. goods. On June 21, 2018, Turkey imposed additional tariffs on $1.8 billion in U.S. products.

The EU, Canada, and Mexico were initially exempted from the tariffs, but that waiver was lifted at the end of May 2018, leading the 28-nation European bloc and the two partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement to move forward on their promises to respond:

• Canada, one of the largest trading partners of the United States, made the biggest move, imposing 10–25 percent duties on $12.7 billion on U.S. goods, effective on July 1, 2018. Mexico implemented two sets of tariffs in early June and July, imposing 7 to 25 percent duties on $3.6 billion in U.S. goods.
• The EU first applied 10 to 25 percent additional duties on $3.2 billion in U.S. goods at the end of June 2018, with the second batch of tariffs, which aren’t set to take effect until June 1, 2021, imposing  with 10–50 percent in additional duties on $4.2 billion in U.S. goods

Contributed by Magdalena A K Muir

Sources

China files complaint to WTO against U.S. proposed tariff on Chinese goods; http://thehill.com/policy/finance/397216-us-files-trade-cases-at-wto-against-five-trading-partners

China files complaint to WTO against U.S. proposed tariff on Chinese goods; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-wto/china-files-complaint-to-wto-against-u-s-proposed-tariff-on-chinese-goods-idUSKBN1K60RU

U.S. launches five WTO challenges to retaliatory tariffs; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-wto/u-s-launches-five-wto-challenges-to-retaliatory-tariffs-idUSKBN1K62GT

WTO Disputes, https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/dispu_by_country_e.htm  and https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/dispu_by_country_e.htm