GENEVA: Argentina broke global trade rules by imposing a raft of hurdles for goods sold by partners including United States, the EU and Japan, a WTO disputes panel ruled on Friday.

In the ruling, the World Trade Organisation’s watchdog arm said that Buenos Aires should “bring the inconsistent measures into conformity with its obligations” under international rules.

Washington hailed the decision.

“This is a major victory for American workers, manufacturers and farmers,” US trade chief Michael Froman said in a statement.

“Argentina’s protectionist measures impact a broad segment of US exports, potentially affecting billions of dollars in US exports each year,” he added.

Froman’s European Union counterpart, Karel De Gucht, was equally upbeat. “I’ve made standing up to protectionism one of the hallmarks of my term as EU Trade Commissioner.”

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014