U.S. repeats concern with Ukraine WTO request

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk repeated on Nov. 30 the U.S. government’s concern about Ukraine’s request to alter tariff bindings on more than 350 products that it agreed to when it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2008. This action is unprecedented and could undermine the multilateral trading system, Kirk said, which is why almost all of Ukraine’s significant trading partners – over a third of all WTO members – have joined us in raising similar concerns. The statement was delivered during a visit to Washington by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, who responded that his government is acting within the framework of the WTO charter, the Kommersant-Ukrayina newspaper reported. The Ukrainian government is seeking to increase tariffs on 371 import categories.