Long-outlawed US trade policy wins WTO approval in Canada lumber dispute

GENEVA: A World Trade Organization ruling approved a long-outlawed US trade policy on Tuesday, when a panel of adjudicators said Washington's use of "zeroing" to calculate anti-dumping tariffs was permissible in the case of Canadian softwood lumber.

The WTO's long-running row over zeroing is a technical dispute that turned into a power struggle between the United States and the arbiters of international trade law. Some lawyers see it as a major factor in US President Donald Trump's decision to block appointments of judges at the WTO.