Washington has requested a WTO dispute resolution panel get involved over the tariffs put against the US in relation to their own hikes against fellow nations.
The requests cover tariffs by China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico.
The US government had imposed a 25 percent duty on steel imports and a 10 percent duty on aluminium, justifying it by saying it protects the country’s national security.
However, Canada, Mexico and China are also planning to call for the WTO to examine the tariffs, according to a US official familiar with the clash.
Furthermore, Norway’s government said that it, the EU and a host of other counties are also seeking the WTO dispute resolution panel’s help.
China has already filed a request with the intergovernmental trade organisation calling for an expert group to determine the legality of the tariffs, its trade ministry said on Thursday.
China’s commerce ministry said the US government’s decision to put the tariffs up so high was an act of protectionism and it seriously undermined multinational trade rules.
It added that consultations with the US under the WTO had failed to resolve the Chinese government’s concerns, which is why the request had been made.
The WTO is currently looking over a record number of disputes and many of them were triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium was well as his trade war with China.
This dispute added a new dimension to Mr Trump’s clashes with a number of his trading partners and the WTO itself.
The Norwegian government said initial consultations its US counterpart did not reach an agreeable solution and therefore joined other countries in its request for the WTO to get an independent assessment.
The Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereifde said in statement: “We believe that additional US duty on steel and aluminium is contrary to WTO rules.
“Therefore, together with the EU and several others, we asked the WTO to establish a dispute resolution panel on the US additional duty.”
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Wednesday that trade negotiations with China have taken a brief pause.
Mexico and China are still subjected to the metals tariffs despite striking a deal to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).