The US has told the EU and India that it will not discuss Section 232 tariffs under the Safeguards Agreement, as they are not protectionist measures.
"The US informs the EU and India that their requests for consultations on the steel and aluminum tariffs under Article 12.3 of the Safeguards Agreement has no basis in the agreement since the tariffs are not safeguard measures," the US said in a filing to the World Trade Organization, according to a senior trade source.
The US said it would discuss the issue on the condition the talks would not be under the Safeguard Agreement; under this agreement India, the EU, and any other complainant, could negotiate for the imposition of counter-measures at parity to the Section 232 tariffs.
Meanwhile, Russia has also requested consultations with the US under Article 12.3 of the Safeguard Agreement, like China, India and the EU, suggesting the measures are a safeguard rather than in the interest of national security.
Russia wanted to discuss "how to achieve the objective under Article 8.1 requiring a member imposing a safeguard to maintain a 'substantially equivalent level of concessions,'" the trade source said of the WTO filing.
