Last January, the World Trade Organization ruled against the United States by finding that the Byrd amendment was an unfair trade subsidy. The amendment allows U.S. corporations to receive anti-dumping fines collected from foreign nations by the U.S. Government. The WTO imposed a December 27 deadline for Congress to change the Byrd amendment, a date Congress did not meet. Now Japan, the European Union, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, India, and Chile have asked the WTO to allow them to impose sanctions which could total up to 200 million a year.
See "EU leads charge for new sanctions against U.S.", Elizabeth Becker, International Herald Tribune, January 15, 2004