Countries urge WTO to probe U.S. metal duties

China, the European Union, Russia and Norway joined “several other” countries in asking the World Trade Organization to investigate the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on metal imports, creating a new front in a trade war that has shaken global markets.

“We believe that the U.S.’s additional duty on steel and aluminum is in violation of the WTO rules,” Norway ’s Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said in a Thursday statement.

Norway and the other nations “have therefore chosen to request the WTO to establish a dispute resolution panel to get an independent assessment of the matter,” she wrote.

The U.S. administration said the tariffs — 25 per cent on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminum — are allowed under the World Trade Organization’s national security exemption, which permits governments to take “any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests.”

This has drawn the ire of affected countries, many of which are close American allies, such as Canada and the EU.

The dispute puts the Genevabased trade organization in a difficult position: If it rules in support of the U.S. it could encourage other members to enact protectionist measures under the guise of national security; If it rules against the U.S. it could draw further ire from the largest economy in the world.