WTO Appellate Body Upholds Sunset Review Provisions of U.S. Anti-Subsidy Laws
 
January 15, 2003
 

The appellate body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) sided with the United States in a dispute with the European Union (EU) that evolved out of a U.S. sunset review of a countervailing duty order on imported, corrosion-resistant, carbon steel products from Germany. An August 2000 sunset review had determined that revocation of the order would have led to a continuation or recurrence of the subsidization, causing material injury to the relevant U.S. industry. The EU challenged the specific determination as well as aspects of the sunset review provisions of the U.S. law. A WTO panel report had ruled against the United States on a few issues, and the United States appealed. The joint result of the panel and appellate body findings is to leave intact the main provisions of the U.S. countervailing duty law, and in particular: 1) the system of automatically self-initiating sunset reviews; 2) the standard used in sunset reviews to determine when subsidies are de minimis, and therefore non-actionable; and 3) the method of determining the likelihood of continuation or recurrence of subsidization in a sunset review. Additional information is available online at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2002/11/02-113.htm.