TRADE

EU Joins U.S. in Film Dispute at WTO: The European Union has joined U.S. efforts at the World Trade Organization to end alleged Japanese trade discrimination against foreign producers of film and photographic paper. The U.S. complaint alleges that the Japanese government and Fuji Photo Film Co. are colluding to keep foreign photo film out of a market estimated to be worth $2.8 billion a year. A WTO dispute settlement committee in Geneva will select a three-person panel to hear the case, involving Rochester, N.Y.-based Eastman Kodak and Fuji. Government and Fuji officials deny they unfairly restrict market access, saying that Kodak and other competitors aren’t pricing their film competitively. Kodak says Japanese trade barriers have cost it at least $5.6 billion since 1975.