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“In Norway’s view, the additional tariffs imposed by the US on steel and aluminium imports are a violation of the WTO rules… We have therefore requested dispute settlement consultations with the US in the WTO. The WTO and its dispute settlement system is the established forum for handling disagreements about trade policy,’ Ine Eriksen Søreide, Norway’s minister of foreign affairs, said in a statement on Tuesday June 12.
Norway joins a growing list of countries taking issue with the US Section 232 import tariffs – 25% in the case of steel and 10% on aluminium – after requests by the European Union, Canada, Mexico, China and India for dispute settlement consultations.
But Norway represents just a fraction of a percent of US imports of either metal, with most of its product directed to European consumers.
The US imported 11,335 tonnes of steel mill products from Norway in 2017, or just 0.03% of arrivals from all countries, according to US Census Bureau data.
For aluminium, the US imported just 860 tonnes of unwrought aluminium from the country in 2017, representing less than 0.02% of the 4.88 million tonnes imported from all suppliers last year, according to data from the US Commerce Department and International Trade Commission.
Still, Norway’s exposure to the European market – where many of the buyers of its product are automakers – leaves the country vulnerable to potential US tariffs on imports of automobiles and automotive parts, a fear that has mounted for automotive exporters after Commerce initiated a Section 232 investigation into these products on May 23.
The international community has been united in its criticism of US trade protectionist actions.
Many of the countries – including Canada, the European Union and Mexico – have matched the US action with their own retaliatory tariffs or threats to do so.