Japan and E.U. Threaten U.S. on Import Sanctions
By THOMAS CRAMPTON,
International Herald Tribune

HONG KONG, Nov. 11 ? A day after the World Trade Organization ruled that American steel tariffs are illegal, Japan and the European Union threatened the United States today with billions of dollars' worth of sanctions. China and South Korea threatened similar action if Washington retained the tariffs on imported steel.

In its ruling, the W.T.O. rejected a United States appeal of a ruling in July that said the tariffs are illegal.

Japan's economy, trade and industry minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, said in a statement today:

"Should the United States refuse to terminate its illegal practice, we will notify the W.T.O. of our retaliatory measures based on the overall losses. We do hope the United States will accept the ruling and terminate the measures immediately."

China, the world's largest steel producer, warned that strong action would be taken if the tariffs remained in place.

China welcomes "the W.T.O.'s ruling and hopes the U.S. government can remove as soon as possible the safeguard measures on steel that are detrimental to W.T.O. rules," a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said at a news briefing. "With respect to the further measures taken by various parties, it will depend on the attitude that the United States will take."