EU, Japan win approval to hit back at U.S. handouts

Friday, Nov. 26, 2004 | 9:19 a.m.

The European Union and Japan gained permission from the World Trade Organization for tariffs on U.S. goods, paving the way for retaliation against a U.S. law that has given companies $750 million in customs levies since 2001.

The agreement was adopted "as agreed during the consultations," Amina Chawahir Mohamed, who chairs the WTO's dispute settlement body, said in a telephone interview. The duties will be applied next year unless Congress repeals the law, known as the Byrd Amendment.

Magda Siekert, a spokeswoman at the U.S. mission to the WTO in Geneva, declined to comment.

Japan has said the WTO decision gives it authority to strike back with tariffs worth as much as $77 million a year on steel and ball bearings, textiles and machinery. The EU's list of targets include textiles and corn as well as sports footwear, hand-held drills and photo-copying machines.

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