New Delhi, Oct 26 (KNN) India, Switzerland, Russia, and Japan along with other WTO countries, have criticised the safeguard measures imposed by the EU and the UK on imports of certain steel products, stating it is inconsistent with global trade rules, reported NDTV. 

The comments were made by these countries during the meeting of World Trade Organisation's (WTO's) Safeguards Committee on Wednesday.

The Geneva-based official said, "Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, China, Korea, Russia and India criticised the European Union's decision to maintain its safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products, which was imposed by the EU after the US imposed additional duties on steel imports during the Trump administration".

These members regretted the EU's decision not to terminate the measure during a recent review and argued the safeguard was inconsistent with WTO rules, the official said.

However, the EU argued that the safeguard will expire at the end of June 2024.

Further India, Korea, Switzerland, Japan, Russia and Brazil "criticised the UK for maintaining its safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products", the official said.

These WTO member countries argued that the measure was not in compliance with WTO rules.

India last year proposed additional customs duties of 15 per cent on the import of 22 products, including whiskey, cheese and diesel engine parts, from the UK in retaliation to Britain's decision to impose restrictions on steel products.

In a communication to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), India in September 2022 stated that it is estimated that the safeguard measures taken by the UK on steel products have resulted in the decline of exports to the tune of 2,19,000 tonnes on which the duty collection would be USD 247.7 million.

The measures imposed by the UK consist of tariff-rate quotas imposed on 15 steel product categories with an out-of-quota duty of 25 per cent.

(KNN Bureau)