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US Byrd Amendment: Japan Decides to Start Retaliation |
Press Release
August 1, 2005 |
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Japan determined today that it would implement retaliatory measures against the United States
in connection with the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000, commonly known as the Byrd Amendment, starting September 1, 2005,
because the United States has failed to repeal the Byrd Amendment even though it was found to be illegal under the WTO Agreements.
We strongly hope that the United States will view our decision with the utmost seriousness, and immediately repeal the Byrd Amendment.
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1. Background
The Byrd Amendment, which came into force in October 2000, provides that assessed anti-dumping and countervailing duties be
disbursed to U.S. producers, etc. who petitioned, or supported petitions of, those trade remedy actions. In December 2000, Japan and eight other WTO members - Australia, Brazil, Chile, the EU, India, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia -
challenged the Byrd Amendment at the WTO. Canada and Mexico joined the co-complaints in May 2001. (A single panel was established to examine the
case.)
The WTO ruled in January 2003 that the Byrd Amendment is illegal under the WTO Agreements, and recommended that the
United States repeal the Amendment in order to comply with its obligations under the WTO. December 31, 2003 was
determined as the deadline for the United States to repeal the illegal provisions, but the United States did not meet
this deadline.
Therefore, Japan, together with seven other WTO members comprising the EU, Canada, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, India, and
Chile, filed a request with the WTO to authorize retaliation in January 2004. This request was subsequently authorized in
November after the arbitratorfs decision on the level of retaliation. Canada and the EU started retaliation on May 1, 2005.
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2. Retaliation by Japan
Japan determined today that it will implement retaliatory measures against
the United States in connection with the Byrd Amendment, through the required domestic procedures. From September 1, 2005, Japan will impose an additional 15-percent duty on the following 15 products
imported from the United States.
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Product |
No. | HS Code |
| Bearings |
7 | 848210000 |
| 848220000 |
| 848240000 |
| 848250000 |
| 848280000 |
| 848291000 |
| 848299000 |
| Steel Products |
3 | 721090010 |
| 722012000 |
| 722699010 |
| Navigational Instruments | 1 |
901480000 |
| Machinery Accessories | 1 |
846610010 |
| Printing Machines | 1 |
844330000 |
| Forklift Trucks | 1 |
842720000 |
| Industrial Belts | 1 |
591000020 |
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Total | 15 |
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The level of the retaliation does not exceed 52 million dollars (56.8 billion yen), the amount authorized by the WTO
(based on the amount of disbursement in 2004 US fiscal year).
Contact
Mr. Etsuo Sato, Director for WTO Compliance and Dispute Settlement
Mr. Hideki Makihara, Deputy-Director
Ms. Ikuyo Katsuta, Assistant Director
Multilateral Trade System Dept., METI
Tel: +81-3-3580-6596
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