The WTO Compliance Panel has released a report with respect to zeroing in the anti-dumping procedures of the United States, pursuant to a petition by Japan.

The report supports all the claims of Japan and concludes that the U.S. has not abolished zeroing, which is inconsistent with the WTO agreement, and has failed to implement the WTO recommendations.

1. On April 24, the WTO Compliance Panel released a report with respect to zeroing* in the anti-dumping procedures of the U.S., after examination initiated pursuant to a petition by Japan.

* "Zeroing" is a calculation method used in the anti-dumping procedures by which a price margin is treated as zero when an export price is higher than the domestic price, and the overall dumping margin is inflated artificially.

2. It was finally and conclusively ruled in January 2007 that zeroing is inconsistent with the WTO agreement and accordingly it was recommended that the U.S. abolish zeroing. However, recognizing that the U.S. had not implemented the recommendation, Japan requested the WTO to set up a compliance panel in April 2008 in order to confirm non-implementation by the U.S. and again urge the U.S. to implement the recommendation.

3. This panel report supports all the claims of Japan. More specifically, it concludes that the U.S. has not abolished either the system of generally and prospectively using zeroing for calculating dumping margins or individual applications of zeroing to calculations in certain specific cases, and that the U.S. has failed to implement the WTO recommendations.

4. In regard to the report, Toshihiro Nikai, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, issued a minister’s statement, as in the Annex attached.

5. If the U.S. appeals to the Appellate Body against the panel report, an Appellate Body report is expected to be published by this fall.

Annex

Statement by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Toshihiro Nikai

The Final Report of the WTO Compliance Panel with respect to zeroing in the anti-dumping procedures of the United States.

April 24, 2009

1. On April 24, the WTO Compliance Panel released the Final Report with respect to zeroing in the anti-dumping procedures of the United States, after examination initiated pursuant to a petition by Japan.

2. The Final Report of the Panel supported all the claims of Japan. More specifically, the Panel concluded that the United States had not abolished WTO-inconsistent zeroing, and thus had failed to implement the WTO Recommendations.

3. Zeroing, which encourages the abuse of anti-dumping measures, is a barrier to free trade. This Panel’s ruling is an important victory that advances Japan’s efforts to strengthen discipline on anti-dumping measures. Japan strongly requests the United States to accept the Panel’s ruling and totally abolish zeroing promptly.

April 24, 2009

Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade Policy Bureau