US tariffs have violated WTO norms: Experts

The sweeping tariffs imposed by the US have violated certain provisions of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and countries have all the right to approach the global trade body's dispute settlement system, say experts. US President Donald Trump on April 2 announced reciprocal tariffs ranging from 10-49 per cent on about 60 countries, including India and China. It will come into effect from April 9.

International trade expert Abhijit Das said that these duties clearly violate the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

He said it breaches both MFN (most favoured nation) obligations and the bound rate commitments and a WTO member country has all the right to approach the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism.


A government official said that the US has stated in its executive order for these tariffs that America has imposed import levies on national security grounds.

The WTO appellate body, the highest platform for dispute resolution, is not functional at present.

The US can say that it has invoked national security provisions for these tariffs but it will be up to the WTO to accept that plea.

"If you look at the executive order, lot of justifications have been built by the US...it has created a narrative around that ... whether it needs legal requirement that has to be seen because some countries will definitely approach the WTO ... we have to see that it meets the legal requirements or not," the official said.