US bows to EU, Japan in trade

The United States on Monday said it has bowed to demands from the European Union and Japan to end its controversial "zeroing" antidumping practice. US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement that Washington had signed agreements in Geneva with the EU and Japan "that will bring to an end longstanding disputes with these important trade partners over 'zeroing.'" So-called "zeroing" is a practice of calculating the price of imports compared to the normal value in the United States to determine predatory pricing. When the US price is above the value of the import, Washington treats the dumping amount as zero, rather than a negative margin, inflating dumping margins. The trade dispute began nearly nine years ago. The World Trade Organization ruled against the United States in favor of the EU for the first time in 2006, and for Japan in 2007. Since then, Washington had refused to abide by the ruling, insisting that zeroing was consistent with WTO rules. The EU and Japan requested a green light from the Geneva-based trade body to impose hundreds of millions of dollar of trade retaliation. Kirk said that Washington acted to comply with the WTO ruling to protect US exports, jobs and farms and businesses. Under the agreements signed Monday, the United States will complete the process under way of ending the zeroing practices and in return, the EU and Japan will drop their claims for trade retaliation, he said. Nevertheless, Kirk said, the US will continue to press in ongoing WTO negotiations for affirmation that zeroing is consistent with WTO rules. President Barack Obama's administration "is committed to vigorous enforcement of US antidumping and other trade remedy laws," he said. "I am confident that we will continue to enforce these laws effectively, as was shown, for example, in our successful defense of the president's imposition of duties on tires from China."