Canada Files WTO, NAFTA Litigation to Counter US 'Illegal' Tariffs

Ottawa filed a pair of complaints to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) panel to address the US tariffs on Canadian metals, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

EU "should be excluded" from US new steel tariffs: trade commissioner

European Union (EU)'s Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on Thursday night said the EU should be excluded from the new US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

EU outlines plan to counter US steel, aluminium tariffs

The European commissioners on Wednesday gave political endorsement to a proposal aiming to counter the possible US steel and aluminium tariffs, saying the EU stands ready to react "proportionately and fully" in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules once the US measures affect EU's interest.

WTO Appellate Body rules against Chinese restrictions on access to rare earths and other raw materials (E.C.)

European Commission, Press release, Brussels, 7 August 2014:

The Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) today ruled in the EU’s favour. It confirmed the findings made by a Panel in March 2014 that China’s export restrictions on rare earth, as well as tungsten and molybdenum, are in breach of WTO rules. Backing the claims of the EU and its co-complainants, the US and Japan, the WTO found that China’s export duties and quotas were not justified for reasons of environmental protection or conservation policy.

Russia brings case against EU over energy regulations. - World Trade Organization

Russia requested consultations with the European Union (EU) over the latter's regulations in energy sector, starting the first step in a dispute against EU to the World Trade Organization (WTO), announced the world trade watchdog here on Thursday.

The EU measures in question were called "Third Energy Package", a legislation for an internal gas and electricity market which came into force in September 2009.

The package was aimed at further opening up the markets in the region by "ownership unbundling," which requires the separation of companies' generation and sale operations from their transmission networks.

Russia sues EU over Third Energy Package

Russia has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the European Union over the Third Energy Package, a Russian source close to the case told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday, April 30.
“This procedure is provided for in the rules of the Organisation,” the source said, adding that “Russia sent a note to the EU Mission at the WTO and notified the WTO Secretariat thereof”.
The Russian Ministry of Economic Development said earlier it was planning to file such a lawsuit before the end of the first quarter of 2014. In late 2013, Russia filed a lawsuit against the EU over energy adjustments.

WTO confirms China’s export restrictions on rare earths and other raw materials incompatible with WTO rules. -European Commission

A World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel today confirmed that China’s export duties and quotas imposed on rare earths, as well as other two raw materials, tungsten and molybdenum, are incompatible with China’s WTO obligations. The report released today concludes the dispute settlement panel proceedings launched jointly by the EU, US and Japan in March 2012.

Which raw materials are at issue in this case?

Rare earths are 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically 15 lanthanides (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium), as well as scandium and yttrium.