United States—Final Anti-Dumping Measures on Stainless Steel from Mexico

Mexico (plaintiff) brought complaints against the United States (defendant) regarding the methodology for calculating the margins of dumping by the United States Department of Commerce under Article VI of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement. The dispute was considered by a panel of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body’s (DSB) Appellate Body acting according to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), an agreement stating procedural and jurisdictional requirements of the Appellate Body. The Appellate Body in general had previously considered similar dumping methodology questions in resolution of disputes between the United States and both the European Community and Japan. The separate panel established for resolving the dumping dispute between the United States and Mexico chose not to follow the Appellate body’s prior holdings, but to instead rely on findings in panel reports that the Appellate Body had reversed. After the panel issued its ruling, Mexico appealed on the ground that the panel acted inconsistently with Article 11 of the DSU by failing to follow well-established Appellate Body jurisprudence, and instead relying on findings in panel reports that the Appellate Body had reversed. Article 11 of the DSU states that “the function of panels is to assist the DSB in discharging its responsibilities” under the DSU and other covered agreements. Additionally, it states that a “panel should make an objective assessment of the matter before it, including an objective assessment of the facts of the case and the applicability of and conformity with the relevant covered agreements, and make such other findings as will assist the DSB in making the recommendations or in giving the rulings provided for in the covered agreements.”