Norway Requests Consultations With U.S. on Steel, Aluminum Tariffs
Norway became the latest country to request consultations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) with the U.S. over its Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. The dispute complaint was circulated to WTO members June 19.
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“In Norway’s view, the additional tariffs imposed by the US on steel and aluminium imports are a violation of the WTO rules,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide said in a prepared statement last week. “Today we have therefore requested dispute settlement consultations with the US in the WTO. The WTO and its dispute settlement system is the established forum for handling disagreements about trade policy.”
Norway, which is home to aluminum producer Norsk Hydro, is Europe’s top aluminum producer (the country is not a member of the European Union, but has membership in the European Economic Area).
According to the release from Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only 0.2% of Norway’s steel and aluminum exports go to the U.S.
“In the long run, we all benefit from a situation where right trumps might in international trade,” Eriksen Søreide said. “Such a disregard for WTO rules weakens the credibility of the United States in international trade, and risks undermining the rules based multilateral trading system.”
India initiated a complaint against the U.S. tariffs in May. Mexico also requested consultations, while the E.U. and Canada have also done so.
Trade tensions have picked up in recent months, as the U.S. tariffs have sparked backlash from some of the U.S.’s closest trading partners. The WTO has come in for much criticism from President Trump, but figures to be a battleground — albeit a slow-moving one — for trading partners formally objecting to the U.S. tariffs.
In addition, last weekend the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, during which trade issues were paramount, ended acrimoniously when Trump tweeted that he would withdraw his support for the summit’s communique.
The communique, among other things, addressed tariffs:
“We acknowledge that free, fair and mutually beneficial trade and investment, while creating reciprocal benefits, are key engines for growth and job creation. We recommit to the conclusions on trade of the Hamburg G20 Summit, in particular, we underline the crucial role of a rules-based international trading system and continue to fight protectionism. We note the importance of bilateral, regional and plurilateral agreements being open, transparent, inclusive and WTO-consistent, and commit to working to ensure they complement the multilateral trade agreements. We commit to modernize the WTO to make it more fair as soon as possible. We strive to reduce tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers and subsidies.”
In a meeting Monday after the G7 dust had settled, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with several leaders of multilateral agencies to stress the importance of cooperation.
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“Rising trade tensions risk a major economic impact, undermining the strongest sustained period of trade growth since the financial crisis,” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said in a joint statement. “They also pose a real systemic threat, risking far greater impacts in the longer term. We will continue working to resolve these tensions and to avoid further, damaging escalation which draws in new sectors, potentially harming more workers.”
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