The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has rejected the 2018 import taxes that Donald Trump, US president at the time, imposed on foreign steel and aluminium, saying they breached global trade rules.
Mr Trump’s tariffs of 25 per cent on foreign steel and 10 per cent on aluminium angered America’s long-standing allies, including the EU and Japan, because he relied on a little-used provision of US trade law to declare their steel and aluminium a threat to US national security.
China and other trading partners challenged the tariffs at the 164-member WTO.
In a ruling issued on Friday, the WTO said it was “not persuaded" that the US faced “an emergency in international relations" that would justify the tariffs.
But the decision is unlikely to have a real-world impact. If the US appeals the ruling, it will go nowhere because the WTO’s Appellate Body has not functioned for three years after the US blocked the appointment of new judges to the panel.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has already reached agreements with the EU, Japan and the UK to essentially drop the tariffs and replace them with import quotas under which the taxes do not apply.
The trading partners dropped their retaliatory tariffs against the US in return.
But the Biden administration has still criticised Friday’s WTO decision.
“The United States strongly rejects the flawed interpretation and conclusions," said Adam Hodge, spokesman for the Office of the US Trade Representative.
“The United States has held the clear and unequivocal position, for over 70 years, that issues of national security cannot be reviewed in WTO dispute settlement."
The WTO “has no authority to second-guess" the national security decisions of its member countries, he said.
Mr Biden’s trade team has attempted to find a balance between mending fences with US allies angry over Mr Trump’s “America First” trade policies, and keeping tariffs popular with many American steel and aluminium producers and their workers.
Christine McDaniel, a trade analyst with George Mason University’s Mercatus Centre, said the ruling against the Trump administration's tariffs was not a surprise.
“Everybody knew that it was clear protectionism," she said.
“Technically speaking, countries are able to act in their own self-interest when it comes to national security."
The WTO did not buy the reasons the US gave for the tariffs, she said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets