LUXEMBOURG : Distant Test for U.S. Farms

Foreign ministers of the 12 European Community nations take up the divisive issue in Luxembourg on Monday of how far they should go toward meeting an American demand to reduce continental farm subsidies.

That’s the thorniest issue in the so-called Uruguay Round of negotiations aimed at liberalizing international trade, and a vital one for U.S. farmers hoping to develop overseas markets.

Also on the agenda will be two other items that have split the ministers in the past: whether to offer financial aid to Egypt, Turkey and Jordan to compensate for extraordinary trade losses caused by the U.N. economic embargo against Iraq; and how fast to move toward a common European currency, which is the subject of a scheduled EC summit in December.