WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today made the following statement after the World Trade Organization Appellate Body affirmed the sweeping victory handed to the United States earlier by a WTO dispute settlement panel in a challenge to Argentina’s broad import restrictions:
“Argentina’s import licensing restrictions are particularly pernicious because they apply to imports of all goods into Argentina, clearly discriminate against non-Argentine producers, and unjustifiably force companies seeking access to Argentina’s market to make local investments and purchases in a manner that amounts to extortion. Today’s report is a well-deserved affirmation of the efforts of the United States and its co-complainants in this case - the European Union and Japan - to confront head on discriminatory and obnoxious trade barriers, including forced localization measures, that are not only illegal but that cost their economies real opportunities in terms of jobs, investments, income streams, and growth."
