The World Trade Organization (WTO) has pushed back its dispute panel’s rulings on the US’ tiff with India, China, Russia and three others nations over higher duties on some steel and aluminium products to the second half of this year citing “complexity of the issue”.

“Due to the complexity of the dispute, the Panel now expects to issue its final report to the parties no earlier than the last quarter of 2022,” a Geneva-based official said.

Norway, Turkey and Switzerland had also dragged the US to the WTO on Washington's move to impose 25% and 10% import duties on certain steel and aluminium products in 2018. The US had said the duties were measures for national security.

India had complained that the duties were inconsistent with provisions of the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, and of the Agreement on Safeguards. New Delhi had listed multiple violations of WTO norms, such as discrimination against its imports, introduction of restrictions in form of quotas and using tariffs to get other countries to agree to "voluntary export restraints”, as the basis for the complaint, after which a panel was established by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) in December 2018.

The panel was composed on 25 January 2019 and on 9 December 2021, it informed the DSB that it expected to issue its final report to the parties no earlier than the first half of 2022.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com