Japan poised for steel tariff measures


Hiranuma reportedly told Zoellick, above, that Japan would be forced to file its own retaliatory steps with the WTO

staff and wire reports

TOKYO, Japan -- Japan plans to tell the World Trade Organization on Friday that it will retaliate against U.S. tariffs on steel, according to Japanese media reports.

Japanese and U.S. trade ministers did not resolve their differences during a telephone call on Wednesday.

Takeo Hiranuma, Japan's Trade Minister, told U.S. trade ambassador Robert Zoellick that Japan will be forced to notify the WTO on Friday of its retaliatory measures, according to Japanese wire services.

Hiranuma is in Paris, at a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The WTO is based in Geneva.

Hackles up around the world

In March, the United States slapped tariffs of as much as 30 percent on overseas steel shipments into the United States.

National Steel, a U.S. producer, filed for bankruptcy the next day (full story). It is 53 percent owned by Japan-based NKK Corp.

The U.S. tariffs have raised hackles around the world, with the European Union, South Korea, China and Japan all citing the need to take steps to counter them (full story on Japan).

But rather than take their fights to the WTO, individual countries have been seeking separate deals with the United States.

Zoellick and the United States have not met a Japanese demand to relax tariffs on imports of other Japanese goods not related to steel.

The trade representatives also held talks in Washington in early May but in vain.

According to Kyodo news service, Japan will now file with the WTO for total retaliatory tariffs of $123.4 million.

Of that, $4.9 million will stem from 100 percent tariffs on U.S. steel products sent to Japan. Those duties would go into effect on June 18.

The balance of $119 million would come in duties against other U.S. goods, going into effect if the United States does not scrap its steel curbs.

The exact goods targeted have yet to be established, Kyodo states, with Japan keen to place the $4.9 million in steel tariffs first and as quickly as possible.