The ruling may support US President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on US steel, aluminum and auto imports. Even Trump is arguing about national security.
There is a possibility of appealing the WTO decision on Friday. The WTO Committee also emphasized that the organization has the right to review national security claims. In doing so, he refuted Washington's claim that national security is not subject to WTO review.
Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO in 2015 after Russia suspended certification and conformity assessment processes for Ukrainian rolling stock, switches and other railway equipment. The process was suspended because Russia refused to send its inspectors to Ukraine to verify that exports from Ukraine met Russian standards. The reason given was that he feared for their lives.
According to Ukraine, Russia's justification is actually just a pretext for an import ban. In practice, this means stopping imports of Ukrainian railway equipment to Russia, which is Kyiv's main export item.
Locomotives, railway carriages and other railway equipment in 2011 were still Ukraine's most valuable export items to Russia. This was before the two former allies became diplomatically estranged.
Ukraine's total exports to Russia in 2011 amounted to USD 19.8 billion (CZK 452 billion), of which railway equipment accounted for approximately USD 3.2 billion. The value of rail exports then fell sharply to less than US$150 million in recent years.
“Tv nerd. Passionate food specialist. Travel practitioner. Web guru. Hardcore zombieaholic. Unapologetic music fanatic.”
