The World Trade Organization (WTO) said in Geneva Tuesday that its Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) will meet on June 7 to consider the request for the establishment of a panel by China to rule on the legality of US steel tariffs.

China's panel request, in the first dispute it has brought to the WTO since joining last December, following similar requests by the European Union, Japan and South Korea.

According to WTO, at the June 3 meeting, DSB will consider the second request for the establishment of a panel by the EU and the first request for a panel by Japan and Korea.

China's request cannot be considered on June 3 because the deadline has already passed for adding new items to the agenda.

EU's first request was blocked by the US last week. However, according to WTO rules, Washington has no rights to block EU's second request for a panel.

A WTO official said that the EU, which filed its complaint first, is due to be granted a panel on June 3 to investigate US tariffs of up to 30 percent slapped on certain imported steel products in March.

WTO said whether the complaints by these countries would be considered together or not depends on the results of the negotiation among these countries.

Switzerland, Norway, Brazil and New Zealand have also begun consultations with Washington over the steel measures under dispute settlement rules that could in addition lead to requests for intervention by experts.

(China Daily May 29, 2002)