Canada files trade complaint against U.S. to WTO

OTTAWA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Canada has launched a wide-ranging trade complaint against the United States over the U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Canadian exports, according to Canada's WTO filing released Wednesday.

Canada said U.S. broke the WTO's Anti-Dumping Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.

Canada cited almost 200 examples of alleged U.S. wrongdoing, almost all of them concerning other trading partners, including India, Brazil and the European Union.

The 32-page complaint homed in on technical details of the U.S. trade rulebook, ranging from the U.S. treatment of export controls to the use of retroactive duties and split decisions by the six-member U.S. International Trade Commission.

The U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties are punitive tariffs to restrict imports that are unfairly priced or subsidised to beat the competition.

Such tariffs are allowed under WTO rules but they are subject to strict conditions.

The United States has upset Canada by slapping punitive tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber exports, leading to a challenge by Canada at the WTO and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Enditem