MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia will refile in November its request for the establishment of an arbitration panel in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a dispute with the United States over additional duties on steel and aluminum as Washington has blocked the previous request, the Ministry of Economic Development said Monday.
Formal consultations between Russia and the United States in the framework of the dispute, which were held on August 30, were unsuccessful. Moscow filed the first request with WTO on October 18.
“As we expected, the United States blocked today the establishment of an arbitration panel to consider the dispute over tariffs on steel and aluminum,” the ministry’s press service said in a statement.
The minister underlined that Washington would not have the right to block the creation of a new arbitration group.
“Russia will refile the request for the establishment of an arbitration group in November. This way, the group will be established automatically, as the United States will not have the right to block this decision again,” the ministry stressed.
According to the WTO dispute resolution procedure, the establishment of a panel is requested after the stage of formal consultations, if the parties do not find a mutually acceptable way to resolve the dispute without consideration by the arbitrators.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
