Reagan Orders Probe Into Foreign Trade Practices

President Reagan, seeking to derail trade protectionist moves in Congress, today ordered investigations of alleged unfair trade practices by South Korea and the European Common Market and said Taiwan has agreed to open its market to American beer, wine and cigarettes.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes said Reagan instructed U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter to begin proceedings under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade against wheat export subsidies offered by the European Community and to begin an investigation--which could lead to direct retaliation by the President--of South Korea’s “practices for protecting intellectual property rights.”

“This is the beginning of the President’s get-tough policy on trade,” Speakes said.

Under GATT, the international trade compact, the United States must first try to resolve the wheat subsidies problem in direct negotiations with the Common Market, then go through a formal conciliation proceeding and finally submit the complaint to a dispute settlement panel if the first steps fail.

Speakes said Common Market countries have been overproducing wheat in recent years and offering their farmers export subsidies, which have depressed world prices and hurt American farmers.

He said Korean law does not protect U.S. food products and chemicals from Korean copiers or provide copyrights for authors.