Friday 28 March 2003 US steel tariffs  | The United States is to keep its tariffs on imports of steel even though the World Trade Organisation, which regulates global trade, has said that the tariffs break international rules. This report from Steven Evans:
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 Listen to the story President Bush decided a year ago to make foreign steel companies pay tariffs of up to thirty percent when they exported to the United States. Producers throughout the world argued that the tariffs breached the international rules of trade as laid down by the World Trade Organisation, of which the United States is a member. Now the WTO panel of experts investigating the issue has agreed with the opponents of the American action in what's called an interim judgement. It is very rare for such an interim judgement not to be ratified, so the likelihood now is that Japan, the European Union and other countries will be allowed to retaliate with their own tariffs against American exports. The Bush administration said it would appeal and in the meantime the tariffs would stay.
Steven Evans, BBC North America Business Correspondent
Listen to the words tariff a tax on goods coming into a country breached broken laid down officially ordered to happen, officially stated panel a small group of people who are chosen to act as a team – in this context, in order to investigate and make a decision about something. opponents the opponents of an idea or policy do not agree with it. interim temporary. Interim here describes conditions that will continue until permanent arrangements are made. ratified formally approved and made official likelihood probability retaliate if you retaliate when someone harms you, you harm them in return. appeal make a formal request for a decision to be changed  Read more about this story | |  | | | SEARCH IN LEARNING ENGLISH | | | |
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