WTO Rules Against U.S. in Tuna Controversy, Awards Mexico $163 Million
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has held that Mexico can impose $163 million in trade sanctions against the United States for enacting tougher “dolphin-safe” requirements on fish caught in a part of the Pacific Ocean used primarily by Mexican fishers. The decades-long dispute began when international conservation efforts pressured countries to protect dolphins, which commonly swim with yellowfin tuna in that area. In response, the United States implemented stringent rules for tuna catches and imports, which Mexico argues has shut its fishing businesses out of an import market worth $680 million in 2014. The U.S. revised its requirements after WTO found in favor of Mexico in 2012, but Mexico argued that the revisions still improperly restricted tuna imports and asked for $472 million in sanctions.
WTO rejected a U.S. argument to decide the dispute based on 2016 revisions that expanded the same requirements to all countries, but an expected July 2017 ruling may consider those revisions and affect the sanctions award.
Issue 632
