WTO Members Review Safeguard Actions, Discuss
Increased Use
At the biannual meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards
on 26 April, WTO members reviewed a large number of safeguard actions taken by
fellow members. Several members also reiterated their concern with the
increased use, in general, of this trade-defence tool
in recent years.
Twenty-six
notifications of safeguards (SG) actions received since the committee's October
2020 meeting were addressed and a number of general issues were raised at the
26 April meeting, which was chaired by Mr Mustafa Tuzcu (Turkey). Japan, Korea, China, Australia and Canada
voiced general concern about the frequency of resort to safeguards. Other
general issues raised concerned the impact of safeguards on global trade and
supply chains, and the importance of adhering to WTO disciplines on the use of
safeguards given that these measures are intended to address emergency
situations.
Under
the WTO rules, a member may restrict imports of a product temporarily (take
“safeguard” actions) through higher tariffs or other measures if it determines
through an investigation that increased imports of a product are causing or
threatening to cause serious injury to its domestic industry. Unlike
anti-dumping duties, safeguard measures cover imports from all sources,
although imports from developing country members with a small share of imports
are exempted through special and differential treatment provisions.
The
committee reviewed notifications of new or amended SG legislation or
regulations from Brazil, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the United States, and
continued its review of the legislative notifications of Bolivia, Cameroon,
Costa Rica, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.
Notifications
of safeguard actions were reviewed by the committee from the following
members: Costa Rica; Egypt; the European Union; the member countries of
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); India; Indonesia; Madagascar; Malaysia;
Morocco; Peru; the Philippines; South Africa; Turkey; Ukraine; and the United
States.
Eight
members took the floor in respect of the European Union's review of its
safeguard measure on certain steel products.
Six
members took the floor in respect of the safeguard investigation initiated by
the Gulf Cooperation Council on certain steel products.
Five
members took the floor in respect of the Philippines' imposition of a
provisional safeguard measure on imports of certain motor vehicles.
Other
investigation and/or measures on which views were expressed included
Indonesia's investigation on articles of apparel and clothing accessories,
South Africa's investigation on certain iron and steel products, Turkey's
investigation on wallpapers and wall coverings, and Ukraine's investigation on
fresh cut roses.
Brazil
and Switzerland requested a separate agenda item in respect of the United
Kingdom's safeguard measure on certain steel products. Five other members also
took the floor on this item.
The
committee agreed to a proposal by the chair to merge two notification
documents, to ease the notification process for members and enhance
transparency.