Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Appellate Body Report in EC–Bananas III: waiver-thin, or lock, stock, and metric ton?
- Guilt by association: US – Measures Relating to Shrimp from Thailand and US – Customs Bond Directive for Merchandise Subject to Anti-Dumping/Countervailing Duties
- Mexico–Olive Oil: Remedy without a cause?
- US–Stainless Steel (Mexico)
- Continued Suspense: EC–Hormones and WTO Disciplines on Discrimination and Domestic Regulation
- United States – Subsidies on Upland Cotton Recourse to Article 21.5 by Brazil
- China – Measures Affecting Imports of Automobile Parts
- India – Additional and Extra-Additional Duties on Imports from the United States
- Comment: India – Additional and Extra-Additional Duties on Imports from the United States
Comment: India – Additional and Extra-Additional Duties on Imports from the United States
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Appellate Body Report in EC–Bananas III: waiver-thin, or lock, stock, and metric ton?
- Guilt by association: US – Measures Relating to Shrimp from Thailand and US – Customs Bond Directive for Merchandise Subject to Anti-Dumping/Countervailing Duties
- Mexico–Olive Oil: Remedy without a cause?
- US–Stainless Steel (Mexico)
- Continued Suspense: EC–Hormones and WTO Disciplines on Discrimination and Domestic Regulation
- United States – Subsidies on Upland Cotton Recourse to Article 21.5 by Brazil
- China – Measures Affecting Imports of Automobile Parts
- India – Additional and Extra-Additional Duties on Imports from the United States
- Comment: India – Additional and Extra-Additional Duties on Imports from the United States
Summary
Introduction
Under the provisions of the GATT governing import charges and internal taxes, the Members of the WTO may levy internal taxes on imported products through their customs services. The relationship between the provisions governing import charges and those governing internal taxes was addressed for the first time by a panel and the Appellate Body in India–Additional Import Duties. I do not believe that this relationship was correctly analysed by the Panel. While the commentators describe correctly the rulings of the Panel and the modifications to those rulings by the Appellate Body, they do not provide an explanation of the function and interrelationship of the various provisions on import charges and internal taxes. I would like to complement their analysis by setting out my understanding of the function and interrelationship of these provisions in Section 2 below.
In the economic section of their paper, the commentators make a number of statements regarding the WTO rules governing border tax adjustments that I consider incorrect. In Section 3 below, I present my understanding of those rules and address those inaccuracies.
The relationship between the GATT provisions governing import charges and those governing internal taxes
The basic provisions of the GATT governing customs duties and other charges imposed on the importation of products of other Members are paragraphs 1(b) and 2 of Article II. The basic rules set out in Article II:1(b) read as follows:
The products described in …the Schedule …shall, on their importation …be exempt from ordinary customs duties in excess of those set forth and provided therein. […]
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- The WTO Case Law of 2008 , pp. 265 - 272Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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