On April 24, the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a compliance panel report of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) examining the United States' implementation measures in the case "US - Measures Relating to Zeroing and Sunset Reviews" brought by Japan.
Accordingly, the WTO has found that the US failed to comply with the Dispute Settlement Body's (DSB) recommendations and rulings in the dispute, was inconsistent in its use of zeroing in trade cases, and is in violation of its obligations under the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) agreement. The DSB has also recommended that the US should bring its actions into conformity with its trade agreements.
In the subject method, the US uses a range of prices of imported goods to determine whether they are being sold at prices lower than the prices in their own country. However, the US excludes those cases in which the export price of a foreign producer is actually higher, a practice known as "zeroing" in trade jargon.
The WTO dispute dates from 2004 when Japan challenged the US zeroing method in original trade investigations and reviews, which the US used to set duties.