International Trade Law News

The Government of Japan announced today that beginning on September 1, 2005 it will begin imposing a 15% duty on imports of certain U.S. products due to the United States' failure to repeal the Byrd Amendment (formally known as the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000). The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in 2004 that the Byrd Amendment is in violation of U.S. trade obligations, clearing the way for retaliatory sanctions unless the U.S. repeals the law. Japan and seven other WTO member countries are authorized to retaliate against the U.S. While Japan has not yet released the final list of products that it will impose retaliatory tariffs on, press reports indicated today that the 15% duty will be applied to several U.S. products manufactured from steel, including ballbearings and airplane parts. Japan's list of proposed products subject to retaliatory duties that was submitted to the WTO in December 2004 can be found at the following link.