A panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has again found in favor of the U.S. in a dispute with Mexico over the proper formula for calculating anti-dumping duties. The panel said that WTO rules do not prohibit the "zeroing" method that is sometimes used by the U.S. Department of Commerce to calculate a weighted average dumping margin for a given company. Typically, Commerce will take into account multiple comparisons between sales in the U.S., in the home country of the company in question, and in third-country markets. Where a comparison reveals no dumping, Commerce assigns a zero, instead of a negative number equal to the amount by which the U.S. price exceeds the home-market price. Mexico had challenged this use of "zeroing" in assessment procedures at several stages of the WTO's review procedures. The latest development represents the third time that a WTO panel has found that zeroing is not prohibited by the group's Antidumping Agreement. Earlier appellate body findings by WTO had come to the opposite conclusion. But without specific language on the subject, the issue appears to remain unsettled. "This underscores the U.S. view that WTO members need to address this issue in the Doha Round rules negotiations and adopt clear, precise rules in the Antidumping Agreement expressly permitting the use of zeroing," said a statement by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
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