Brussels, Sept 22: The European commission announced today retaliatory measures against the united states in a row over US anti-dumping legislation, saying that it had run out of patience with Washington. The EU executive will notably reactive a World Trade Organisation (WTO) procedure which leads to retaliatory measures, while also proposing measures to protect EU firms affected by the US anti-dumping act.

"The EU considers retaliatory measures as last resort and has given the US more than enough time to comply with the WTO decision in this dispute. Time has come for the us to show diligence and commitment to its WTO obligations," said EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy.
The 1916 act was found to be incompatible with WTO rules three years ago, the commission noted. "The EU is still waiting for concrete signs that the US will repeal its condemned legislation," it said.

"Confronted with persisting inaction, the EU has decided to reactivate the arbitration process that will decide on retaliatory measures," said a statement.
The retaliatory measures envisioned would allow the EU to impose import duties equivalent to three times the amount of the damage suffered by EU companies, on products of US companies found to dump in the EU.

"The sign that international trade law will simply be ignored is very disturbing and cannot go unchallenged. I hope that our move will give the impetus for immediate action by Congress to repeal the 1916 anti-dumping act and terminate all pending cases," said Lamy.
Bureau Report