A 23 October 2017 meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards, chaired by Mr. Kensuke Tsunoda, reviewed safeguard legislations of various countries including United States, China, Afghanitsan, Cameroon and El Salvador. Five members expressed concerns about US safeguards for import of large residential washers and crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. China was questioned by two members about the safeguards related to import of sugar.
WTO Safeguards’ regime allows a member to restrict imports of a product temporarily due to an actual or potential serious injury arising out of a surge in imports. Exporting countries have a recourse of seeking compensation for lost trade through consultation or raising tariffs on exports from the safeguard enforcing country if no agreement is reached.
Total of twenty four safeguard actions about rising use were notified at the meeting. It is a clear increase from the sixteen notifications in the April 2017 meeting.
This post has been authored by Risabh Mohnot of West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.
Comments