The April 3rd to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the issue of vehicles and components, the organization said today.
“Canada has called for a consultation with the US as part of the WTO dispute resolution mechanism, focusing on measures taken by the US, which imposed a 25% duties on cars and car accessories,” the WTO said on its website.
Canada was not affected by almost all countries worldwide, which was already confronted with at least 10% duties in all their sales in the US.
However, Ottawa, its first commercial partner, is already targeted by additional US customs duties in steel and aluminum, as well as in cars.
25% duties came into force on April 3 in all cars not manufactured in the US. In retaliation, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the imposition of 25% on some US car imports.
The request of consultations filed by Canada was distributed today to the other members of the WTO. It is the official starting point of the dispute resolution process. These consultations give the parties the opportunity to examine the issue and find a satisfactory solution without engaging in a legal process.
After 60 days, if the consultations have not allowed the dispute to resolve, the plaintiff may ask the matter to undergo a judicial procedure under the jurisdiction of an expert.
In her request for consultations, the Canadian government says that it considers US measures “incompatible” with the various US obligations to the 1994 GATT General Duty and Trade Agreement.
“The Canadian government is awaiting interesting to receive the US government’s response to its request and hopes that a date and a place, mutual acceptable, will be determined for the consultations,” he added.
Already in March, Canada had appealed to the WTO on the issue of 100% punitive customs duties imposed by the Trump government on the majority of its products imported into the US.
