GENEVA- The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council will impose a safeguard tariff of $169 per tonne on imports of certain iron and steel products from May 15, they said in a filing published by the World Trade Organization on Monday.

The three-year tariff on clad, plated or coated flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, will fall to $153/tonne in the second year and to $137/tonne in the third year.

The GCC countries said last year they were investigating the case for safeguard tariffs, which are temporary, emergency tariffs that the WTO allows if a particular industry is hit by a sudden, damaging and unforeseen surge in imports.

(Reporting by Tom Miles; editing by Jason Neely) ((tom.miles@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 2006; Reuters Messaging: tom.miles.reuters.com@reuters.net))