Annual Fair Trade Report Scolds Japan, EU the Most

Trade practices in Japan, the European Union, South Korea and China harm U.S. companies, the Clinton administration said Tuesday in its annual report on foreign trade barriers.

These four led 49 countries and three trading groups put on notice that they had erected unfair trade barriers, were failing to adequately protect U.S. copyrights and patents or were otherwise engaging in trade practices that the administration considers unfair.

“There is much work that must be accomplished to ensure that rules for fair and open trade are applied around the world,” U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said in issuing the latest report.

Barshefsky said the administration will continue to use all tools at its disposal, including complaints before the World Trade Organization and bilateral negotiations, to open markets to American products.

From the report’s global review, the administration has 30 days to select a smaller list of countries to cite for failing to protect U.S. copyrights and patents.

Last year, the administration brought complaints against Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and Ecuador for failing to do enough to protect U.S. films, books and computer software from copyright pirates.

The 1998 edition of the “National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers” could take on more significance this year, given expectations that the U.S. trade deficit, which last year was the largest in nine years at $113.7 billion, will worsen this year because of the Asian financial crisis.

The new report devoted the most space to Japan--50 of its 411 pages--followed by 30 pages on allegations against the European Union.