Japan and Australia took the floor to stress that safeguards are emergency measures, and members taking safeguard actions must ensure that they comply with the relevant rules.

Review of legislative notifications

The legislative notifications from Cabo Verde and the Solomon Islands were tabled at the meeting. Both members notified that they did not currently have regulations or administrative procedures relating to safeguard measures. The Committee also continued the review of legislative notifications from Liberia and from Ghana.

Specific notifications of safeguard actions

Notifications of various safeguard actions from the following members were reviewed by the Committee: the European Union (1 investigation); Ghana (1 investigation); India (1 investigation); Indonesia (8 investigations); Madagascar (3 investigations); the Philippines (1 investigation); South Africa (1 investigation); Türkiye (4 investigations); Ukraine (1 investigation), the United Kingdom (1 investigation); and the United States (2 investigations).

Six members took the floor in respect to the European Union's update of the status of its safeguard measure on certain steel products. One member referred to its proposal to suspend substantially equivalent concessions against European Union imports in reaction to the European Union's measure.

Five members took the floor to comment on the latest status of the United Kingdom's safeguard measure on certain steel products, with several members recalling that the UK applies this measure having “transitioned” it from the EU following its departure from the European Union.

Japan expressed concerns about two specific safeguards: Viet Nam's safeguard measure on “certain semi-finished and finished products of alloy and non-alloy steel” and Indonesia's safeguard measure on “articles of apparel and clothing accessories”.

Indonesia's request regarding Türkiye's proposed suspension of concessions against its exports

On 11 July 2024, Indonesia submitted, pursuant to Article 13.1 (e) of the Safeguards Agreement, a request in relation to Türkiye's proposal to suspend substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations against imports from Indonesia. Türkiye had proposed the suspension of concessions in response to Indonesia's safeguard measure on carpets and other textile floor coverings.

Article 13.1 (e) of the Safeguards Agreement stipulates, as one of the functions of the Committee, to “review … whether proposals to suspend concessions or other obligations are ‘substantially equivalent’, and report as appropriate to the Council for Trade in Goods”. The Chair explained how he intends to move forward on this matter. Several members took the floor to describe their views, including with respect to the relevant period to use for the purpose of determining the value of the substantially equivalent concessions.

Discussion Group regarding safeguard proceedings

A member, on behalf of 13 other members, explained that a meeting of an informal discussion group regarding safeguard proceedings would take place after the Committee meeting. While it was not part of the Committee meeting, the discussion was open to all members. The idea behind this discussion group was to provide a broader perspective than in formal Committee meetings where members review particular notifications, and to focus more on each other's experiences and to learn from each other.

Creation of online portal for submission of safeguard notifications

Under “Other Business”, the Chair provided an update regarding the creation by the WTO Secretariat of an online portal for the submission of safeguard notifications. The Chair reported that a prototype was now ready for delegations to test.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Committee on Safeguards is scheduled for the week of 28 April 2025.

Background

Under the WTO rules, a member may apply measures to imports of a product temporarily (take “safeguard” actions) through higher tariffs or other measures if it determines through an investigation that increased imports of a product are causing or threatening to cause serious injury to its domestic industry. Unlike anti-dumping duties, safeguard measures cover imports from all sources, although imports from developing country members with a small share of imports are exempted through special and differential treatment provisions.

More background on safeguards is available here.

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