MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2019) Russia intends to request again the World Trade Organization (WTO) to form an arbitration panel in order to solve the country's dispute with the European Union on tariffs that the bloc introduced on Russia's cold-rolled steel products, the Ministry of Economic Development said in a statement on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the European Union blocked Russia's first request, filed in March.
"As we have expected, the European Union today blocked the first Russian request to convene an arbitration panel on the dispute over cold-rolled products. Russia intends to request the formation of an arbitration body again. Then the body will be established automatically, and the European Union will not have a right to block this decision for the second time," the ministry said.
The European Union imposed in August 2016 five-year tariffs on Russian producers of non-stainless steel, based on the conclusion that imports from Russia allegedly unfairly undercut manufacturers in Europe.
The European Union's anti-dumping duties for the Russian companies amount to 18.7 percent for the MMK group, 34 percent for Severstal PJSC and 36.1 percent for the Novolipetsk Steel company.
In response to the EU measures, Russia appealed to the WTO dispute settlement body in January 2017, citing numerous violations of WTO regulations that the European Commission committed during its anti-dumping investigation. Moscow also requested the organization to conduct settlement consultations with the European Union.
