WTO Panels Formed on Section 301 Tariffs, Turkish Retaliatory Tariffs

Dispute panels are forming at the World Trade Organization on the Section 301 tariffs the U.S. levied on China and on the retaliatory tariffs Turkey levied on the U.S. in response to U.S. tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum. China said the tariffs, on about $250 billion worth of its exports, are damaging China's economic interests and the rules-based trading system. The panel on Turkish retaliation is the sixth panel formed on retaliation for the metals tariffs, which are applied around the world.

The Dispute Settlement Body meeting, held Jan. 28, also discussed the fact that the U.S. is appealing a panel report on its countervailing duties on Turkish oil country tubular goods. That case, which began in 2017, had a December 2018 ruling that found that the Department of Commerce (or its equivalent in other countries) could determine that companies were public bodies on the basis of a chain of government control. But, the judges said, the fact that a military pension fund owned two Turkish hot-rolled steel producers was not enough to prove that those companies are owned by a public body.