By Vivian Salama 

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. fired back at lawsuits other countries have filed with the World Trade Organization over Trump steel and aluminum tariffs, escalating a trade dispute with some of America's closest allies.

The U.S. on Monday filed separate claims against China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey -- the latest stage in tit-for-tat retaliations prompted by President Donald Trump's decision to pursue tariffs earlier this year, citing national-security interests and unfair trade practices.

"Instead of working with us to address a common problem, some of our trading partners have elected to respond with retaliatory tariffs designed to punish American workers, farmers and companies," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement Monday. "The United States will take all necessary actions to protect our interests, and we urge our trading partners to work constructively with us on the problems created by massive and persistent excess capacity in the steel and aluminum sectors."

Mr. Lighthizer's office said that the other countries' retaliatory tariffs appear to breach commitments made by WTO members, and added that the tariffs imposed by the U.S. "are justified under international agreements the United States and its trading partners have approved."

Trading partners argue that the U.S., by citing national-security concerns, is using a phony rationale for imposing tariffs affecting politically favored U.S. industries.

The Trump administration raised the prospect of a global trade conflict earlier this year by imposing tariffs of 10% on aluminum imports and 25% on steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the EU.

Last week, the U.S. also expanded its continuing trade fight with China, moving beyond industrial goods to impose tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese consumer products. China is disputing those tariffs in a WTO complaint also announced Monday.

Other nations hit by tariffs have launched countermeasures of their own, which so far target $24 billion worth of American-made goods -- a figure that is set to increase. Some of those tariffs target industries heavily concentrated in states that supported Mr. Trump, raising concern about their impact on Republican efforts to maintain a majority in Congress in November's midterm elections.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly raised the prospects of withdrawing from the WTO, although this month he said that no withdrawal was planned for now, adding that the organization is "treating us badly and I hope they change their ways."

Beyond Mr. Trump's remarks, the White House has displayed its dissatisfaction with the WTO by holding up appointments to the organization's appeals court, hobbling its dispute-settlement process.

Allies have said the action threatens the WTO.

Mr. Lighthizer said last year that the global commercial arbiter is "losing its essential focus" and becoming "a litigation-centered organization" that has failed to pay sufficient attention to enforcing existing rules.

These lawsuits "send a signal that the Trump administration sees some value in the WTO," said Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. "If they weren't filing these cases and holding up appointment of judges then the, sense would be that they just want the organization to implode."

Tariff-related cases brought by countries to the WTO could take as long as three years to resolve. The burden of these disputes may weigh heavily on the 164-country body, observers warn.

If the U.S. loses the cases and doesn't remove tariffs, the countries that brought the cases could be authorized by the WTO to impose tariffs on U.S. goods -- essentially giving WTO imprimatur to actions they are starting to take.

The U.S., by resorting to tariffs before getting WTO backing for the actions, reflects disillusionment with the WTO, founded in 1995 as successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which took effect in 1948. In 2001, the year China joined the WTO, members launched talks to update and rewrite global trade rules but those efforts died a decade ago.

"It is a bizarre world that we are living in when tariffs and countertariffs come first and then the lawsuits follow," said Mr. Bown.

Mr. Bown also said he worries that the U.S. is endangering the WTO system by claiming a national-security rationale. "It opens the potential for any country to impose tariffs in the name of national security and that renders the rules of the WTO meaningless," he said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 16, 2018 15:13 ET (19:13 GMT)

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