United States - Countervailing Duties on Certain Corrosion Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products from Germany

On 10 November 2000, the EC requested consultations with the US in respect of countervailing duties imposed by the US on imports of certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products (“corrosion resistant steel”), dealt with under US case number C-428-817. This dispute related, in particular, to the final results of a full sunset review of the above measure, carried out by the US Department of Commerce (“DOC”) and published in the US Federal Register No. 65 FR 47407 of 2 August 2000. In this decision, the DOC found that revocation of the countervailing duty order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy. The EC considered that this finding is inconsistent with the obligations of the US under the SCM Agreement and, in particular, in breach of Articles 10, 11.9 and 21 (notably 21.3) thereof.