GENEVA, Oct 18: The United States, underlining a tougher stance on trade, on Friday formally appealed a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling against a key anti-dumping law.

A three-member panel of trade judges decided last month that the law, which channels anti-dumping duties on imports to US firms, broke WTO rules and called on Washington to repeal it.

But the US government, riled by a series of WTO rulings against it, vowed a vigorous defence against what it sees as WTO attempts to weaken its right to protect domestic producers from “unfairly” priced or subsidised imports.

“They lodged the appeal today,” one trade official said, confirming the US move.

The case now goes to the WTO’s Appellate Body, which can take up to 90 days to issue a final ruling.

The initial complaint was brought by the 15-state European Union and 10 other members of the WTO, where Washington has been accused of making abusive use of its anti-dumping measures.

The row coincides with discussions within the 144-state WTO on changes to anti-dumping rules, one of a parcel of reforms being debated as part of a new round of free trade negotiations.

The disputed law, widely known as the Byrd Amendment, requires the US Customs Service to distribute the proceeds of anti-dumping and countervailing duties to US companies that complain the cheap imports have undermined their business.

Customs distributed almost $207 million in payments to US steel companies, ball-bearing producers and various other firms in the first year of the programme in 2001. A second tranche is due this autumn.

Critics say the law undermines the principles of the global trading system by encouraging US firms facing tough but legitimate competition to claim that they being hurt by dumping — or the pricing of imports below the cost of production.

But the run of decisions against US so-called “trade remedy” laws has triggered an angry reaction in Congress, with lawmakers branding the Geneva-based body as biased.

Congress passed the law in 2000 against the advice of then-President Bill Clinton’s administration, which believed it would fall foul of the WTO.

In Geneva talks on changes to the anti-dumping rules, Washington sought to up the ante on Thursday by demanding negotiators look at the causes of the use of anti-dumping laws, which it said were the unfair trade practices of other states.

“These (WTO) negotiations also need to address subsidies and other market distorting practices, which are the root causes of unfair trade,” Commerce Secretary Don Evans said in a statement.

But Japan and other states accused Washington of seeking to “move the goalposts” for the negotiations by bringing in elements not been included in the original mandate agreed by trade ministers in Doha, Qatar last November, when the trade liberalisation round was launched.—Reuters