But the United States used its right under WTO rules to block the setting up of an independent panel of experts to rule on the legality of the steel measures, trade sources said.

China said at Friday's meeting of the dispute settlement body that it hoped to ask again on June 24 when the US will not be able to oppose the second request and the three-member panel must be established automatically.

Beijing follows in the footsteps of the European Union, South Korea and Japan in lodging the request, and others are preparing to follow suit in what is shaping up to be one of the trade body's most bitter conflicts.

"Consultations have allowed a better understanding of the respective positions but have failed to settle the dispute," Beijing said in its written request for the panel to the WTO.

The dispute centres on Washington's three-year introduction of "safeguards" on some imported steel products to help its flagging steel industry.

The measures, which took effect on March 20, take the form of increased duties of between eight and 30 percent and tariff rate quotas.

But the US' trade partners from Europe, Latin America and Asia have pressed for the measures' removal, slamming them as protectionist and in violation of US commitments to WTO rules.

US legal advisor Dan Brinza said on Friday that Washington believed the measures were fully consistent with WTO rules and it believed the WTO would ultimately reach the same conclusion.

Like Brussels, Tokyo and Seoul, Beijing contests US claims that the measures are needed because of increased imports and argues that US industries were not seriously hit or threatened.

But China also argues that as a developing country, its imports of some steel products should be excluded from the US measures.

The country joined the Geneva-based organisation that sets and oversees international trading rules last December after years of long and often difficult negotiations.

And Friday's request is the first time China has asked for an expert panel to be set up by the dispute settlement body to look into a complaint since it entered the now 144-strong WTO.

The EU on Monday secured the setting up of a panel, while South Korea and Japan plan to ask a second time on June 14, when Norway and Switzerland will each also lodge an initial request.

Brazil and New Zealand are at an earlier stage in the procedure that could in addition lead to panel requests.

EU Ambassador to the WTO Carlo Trojan told Friday's meeting the European Commission "deplored" the US decision to delay the process by blocking China's panel, a trade source said.

He insisted that all the complaints so far "were similar".

South Korea's delegate said he was disappointed by what he called US "delaying tactics", and China said the US action was "regrettable", the source added.

A ruling by panelists can take up to nine months but appeals are then possible by either side, and observers say a final ruling is unlikely before the second half of next year.

Sources said the panels could be merged to consider all the complaints under one case, as has been the practice in a number of past disputes, but it is not yet clear how the steel row will be handled.

The EU and Japan have already threatened retaliation from this month if they are not compensated by the US for the steel tariffs. The two WTO members, plus others have also threatened punitive action if the WTO eventually rules against the US.

China and the 15-nation EU have also introduced provisional measures on steel imports to protect their own markets from steel turned away from the US.

( China Daily June 8, 2002)