UNITED STATES – CONTINUED DUMPING

AND SUBSIDY OFFSET ACT OF 2000

Request for the Establishment of a Panel by Australia, Brazil, Chile,

the European Communities, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Thailand

            The following communication, dated 12 July 2001, from the Permanent Missions of Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Thailand, and the Permanent Delegation of the European Communities, to the Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated pursuant to Articles 4.7 and 6 of the DSU.

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            On 21 December 2000 Australia, Brazil, Chile, the European Communities (EC), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Thailand, acting jointly and severally, each in the exercise of the rights accruing to it as a member of the WTO, requested consultations with the United States of America pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the "GATT"), Articles 17.2 and 17.3 of the Agreement on implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the "ADA") and Articles 7.1 and 30 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the "ASCM") regarding the amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930 signed into law by the President on 28 October 2000 with  the title of "Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000" (the "Act") (WT/DS217/1).

            Australia, Brazil, Chile, the EC, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and the United States of America held consultations in Geneva on 6 February 2001. Unfortunately those consultations failed to resolve the dispute.

            The express purpose of the Act is to remedy the "continued dumping or subsidisation of imported products after the issuance of antidumping orders or findings or countervailing duty orders". With that objective, the Act mandates the US customs authorities to distribute on an annual basis the duties assessed pursuant to a countervailing duty order, an anti-dumping order or a finding under the Antidumping Act of 1921 to the "affected domestic producers" for their "qualifying expenses" (these duties are referred to below as "offsets"). The "affected domestic producers" are the petitioners or interested parties who supported the petition. "Qualifying expenses" include the expenditure incurred with respect to "manufacturing facilities, equipment, acquisition of technology, acquisition of raw material or other inputs".