USTR seeking names for binational AD/CVD panels

Process begins to choose individuals to serve on the U.S. roster used for the selection of panelists to review duty determinations made by NAFTA parties    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is accepting applications from eligible individuals who wish to be included on the roster for binational NAFTA panels convened to review final antidumping and countervailing duty determinations made by member governments, USTR announced Monday.
   USTR is accepting applications to be on the roster from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020.
   The U.S. annually renews its selections for the roster.
   The deadline for submitting applications is Nov. 26.
   NAFTA Chapter 19 allows for parties involved in AD or CV duty proceedings to seek review by a binational panel of a final AD/CV duty determination of one member government with respect to products from another NAFTA party.
   The panels decide whether AD/CV duty determinations align with the domestic laws of the importing NAFTA party using the standard of review that would be applied by a domestic court of the importing party.
   Panels may uphold the duty determination or remand it to the national administering authority for “action not inconsistent with the panel’s decision,” USTR noted.
   Panels also may provide declaratory opinions on whether amendments to a NAFTA party’s AD/CVD statutes are inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the GATT Antidumping or Subsidies Codes, successor agreements or the “object and purpose of the NAFTA with regard to the establishment of fair and predictable conditions for the liberalization of trade,” USTR said.
   If a panel finds the amendment is inconsistent, the two NAFTA parties must consult and seek to achieve a mutually satisfactory solution.
   Each NAFTA party must select at least 25 individuals to serve on the roster, USTR said. A separate five-person panel is formed for each review of a final AD/CV duty determination or statutory amendment, with the two involved NAFTA parties each appointing two panelists. If the parties can’t agree upon the fifth panelist, one of the parties, selected randomly, selects the fifth panelist from the roster.
   The majority of individuals on each panel must consist of lawyers in good standing, and the chair of the panel must be a lawyer.