According to a report this past week by Reuters (U.K.), Canada has filed a complaint against the U.S. over anti-dumping duties imposed on imports of supercalendered paper, which is used in glossy magazines and catalogs, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said this past Thursday.

In its proceeding filed this past Wednesday, Canada said the so-called countervailing measures were inconsistent with WTO rules. The U.S. now has 60 days in which to settle the dispute through bilateral talks, after which Canada could ask the WTO to adjudicate on the case. Countries impose countervailing duties - punitively high import tariffs - when they suspect another country of gaining an unfair trade advantage through subsidies.

Andrew Bates, spokesman of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said that the U.S. was evaluating the request.

"The U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission have both determined that Canada has been providing export-related subsidies to their supercalendered paper industry to the detriment of American manufacturers and producers," he said by email from Washington.

The U.S. had asked Canada to remove the subsidies for two years, but Ottawa refused, Bates said.

"It is ironic now for Canada to be invoking WTO remedies to address a legitimate U.S. response to massively large Canadian provincial subsidies that caused harm to U.S. companies and workers..