Japanese, Canadian and European Union ambassadors to the United States sent a joint letter Wednesday to US president Bill Clinton, asking him to veto new anti-dumping legislation.
The bill recently passed by the Senate would allow US companies filing anti-dumping petitions to receive compensation from the proceeds of Commerce Department tariffs levied on foreign steel and apples allegedly priced at below fair market value.
The new regulations would open the door to a flood of lawsuits from US companies pushing for anti-dumping tariffs in order to receive the compensation, an official with Japan's foreign ministry said Thursday.
"As we have each separately indicated to the US Trade Representative and congressional leadership, we view this section of the bill as a serious violation of US obligations under the anti-dumping and countervailing duty codes of the WTO (World Trade Organization)," says the letter, signed by ambassadors Shunji Yanai of Japan, Michael Kergin of Canada and Gunter Burghardt of European Union.
"We are writing to you as the diplomatic representatives of the most important partners of the United States in the World Trade Organization," the letter says.
The Japanese government warned it was ready to appeal to the WTO amid fears the legislation could prove a financial boon to US companies suffering from import competition.
The trade bill is awaiting approval by Clinton, who is expected to sign it despite misgivings about possible retaliation from other countries.
US steel makers have intensified their campaign to counter what they say has been a damaging surge in imports, appealing to Clinton to speed up help for domestic producers, and backing a bill giving them the proceeds of anti-dumping tariffs.
On Wednesday, a group of 57 US lawmakers sent a letter to Clinton urging him to take measures to curb steel imports, according to a Kyodo News report.
The move follows similar pleas last week, when 76 US industry and union officials signed a letter to Clinton, complaining that the effect of measures taken to deal with a boom in steel imports in 1998 had worn off -- TOKYO (AFP)
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