* Case is further attack on U.S. "zeroing" method
* Retaliation request likely to go to arbitration
(Adds background, details)
By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The European Union is seeking around $375 million a year in sanctions from the United States in its dispute over a U.S. method for tackling unfairly priced imports.
The move by Brussels is yet another blow against the U.S. practice of "zeroing" when calculating duties on goods that have been dumped, or sold for less than they cost in the exporting country.
Every other WTO member rejects zeroing, which has been condemned repeatedly by WTO judges. On Tuesday, Vietnam launched its first WTO dispute with a complaint against the United States over zeroing on shrimp imports.
A document filed by the EU at the World Trade Organisation said the EU was seeking WTO authority to retaliate against the United States in their dispute over Washington's "zeroing" method used in anti-dumping cases, dating back nearly seven years.
The EU request, submitted to the next meeting of the WTO's dispute settlement body on Feb. 18, follows a WTO ruling last June that the United States had failed to comply with an original decision in a case launched by the EU in 2003 over anti-dumping duties on steel products and other goods.
The United States is almost certain to object to the EU's request, meaning it would go to arbitration, a process usually taking about two months.
WTO rules allow members to impose extra duties on goods that are dumped if that hurts businesses in the importing country.
Calculating these anti-dumping duties typically involves comparisons of the prices of different batches of imported goods to work out the average difference in price.
In zeroing the U.S. authorities ignore -- or treat as zero -- examples where the imported goods actually cost more than at home, which critics say unfairly inflates the duty. (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Robert Evans)