WTO to rule on China-US dispute on shrimps saw blades

30/10/2011 12:00 - 387 Views

The World Trade Organization said Tuesday that it would rule on a dispute brought by China to the United States over anti-dumping calculations imposed by Washington on Chinese diamond saw blades and shrimps.

"The DSB (Dispute Settlement Body) established a panel to examine this issue," said a WTO spokeswoman.

The United States had launched an anti-dumping probe against China in 2004 over certain frozen shrimps and in 2005, it launched another investigation against Chinese diamond saw blades.

In both cases, Washington applied a complex anti-dumping calculation called zeroing, which China claims flouts international trade rules.

The United States has lost several major cases at the WTO related to the zeroing method -- which involves counting negative values as zero when calculating an average -- including against Brazil and the European Union.

According to complainants, the zeroing method allows Washington to increase its estimate of the degree of dumping on its markets.

Dumping involves the sale of items abroad at less than the cost price in their domestic market.

The United States said it believed that the dispute "was unnecessary," pointing out that "the US Department of Commerce has discontinued zeroing in the context of average to average comparisons in investigations."

Source: terradaily.com