WTO Appellate Body Decision Victory for Steptoe

The recent WTO Appellate Body decision in the United States-Zeroing dispute represented a big victory for Steptoe.  Dick Cunningham led the team, assisted by Joel Kaufman, Matt Frumin, and William Isasi. Steptoe (on behalf of Corus) advised the appellant, the European Communities (EC), helping to plan the EC’s litigation strategy and to hone the EC’s legal arguments before the Appellate Body. 

For the first time, the Appellate Body ruled that zeroing in average-to-average price comparisons in investigations was WTO-inconsistent “as such” (i.e., in every instance) and also held that the zeroing prohibition applies to assessment proceedings conducted within administrative reviews. 

The broad language also signals a likelihood that the Appellate Body will rule that zeroing in a transaction-to-transaction comparison methodology is also WTO-inconsistent—an issue that is presented in the Canadian lumber WTO dispute in which our Canadian lumber team is actively involved. 

The report’s effect depends on whether and how the United States decides to implement it; the Steptoe team will work closely with Corus and the EC on implementing the zeroing decision.