May 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine may decide to add emergency tariffs to car imports within days, a move that would be unjustifiable under World Trade Organization rules, Japan's delegation to the trade body said in a statement published on Thursday.

Ukraine, which is preparing to co-host the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, is already under international pressure because of its jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko after a trial the European Union says was politically motivated.

Bringing in new rules to restrict car imports would attract more criticism from the European Union, as well as from South Korea and Turkey, which have all previously voiced concerns at the WTO.

Under WTO rules, countries are allowed to use emergency import restrictions, known as "safeguard measures", to prevent a particular industry being seriously damaged by a sudden wave of imports. Such a move may follow a "safeguard investigation" to determine whether it would be appropriate.

Ukraine's Economy Ministry informed Japan on April 11 that its investigation gave it grounds to recommend the Interdepartmental Commission of Foreign Trade apply safeguard measures against imports of motor cars, the statement said.

At a meeting with Japanese officials on April 19, "little was explained or answered", but Ukraine said the commission would make a final decision by the end of May, said the statement, which was circulated to WTO members on Wednesday.

Japan has serious concerns about the Ukrainian move and has serious doubts that Ukraine would be justified in using safeguard measures, it said.

Under WTO rules, Ukraine's car industry would have had to suffer from an unforeseen, recent, sudden, sharp and significant increase in imports to justify the use of safeguards.

Rather than an increase, imports of cars had actually decreased sharply, the statement said, citing data from the Japanese auto industry.

Ukraine's total imports fell from 376,000 vehicles in 2008 to 107,000 in 2010, it said. Japanese car shipments to Ukraine fell even faster over the same period, from 51,561 to 9,008.

Trade diplomats say Ukraine's trade policies are turning it into the new "bad boy" of the global trading club, which it joined in 2008, partly because of its tough stance on countries currently trying to join.

May 24, 2012

Source: Reuters

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