U.S. Presses EU to End Beef, Banana Disputes

The Clinton administration, acting on the instructions of Congress, cranked up the pressure on the European Union on Friday to resolve long-standing trade fights over beef and bananas.

In a move long urged by farm groups, the U.S. trade representative set a June 19 deadline for deciding whether to add new goods to the list of $308.2 million worth of EU products subject to 100% duties in the two disputes.

Any changes could add such consumer items as motorcycles, sweaters and candles to the duty list.

U.S. trade officials also said they will consider raising the duty above 100% on some targeted EU goods to make sure they do not enter the U.S. market.

Washington imposed retaliatory duties on $191.4 million worth of EU goods in April 1999 in the banana case, and on $116.8 million worth of other products in July in the beef case.

The Clinton administration took the action after the EU failed to meet separate deadlines for complying with World Trade Organization rulings in the two cases.

The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn. want the list of goods hit with the duties to be changed periodically to keep the EU off guard and motivated to resolve the disputes.

The farm groups persuaded Congress to include language in an Africa, Caribbean and Central American trade bill that required the administration to review the current list of targeted goods for possible changes within 30 days. President Clinton signed the legislation May 18.

EU officials have hinted they may challenge the so-called carousel retaliation provision as illegal under WTO rules. But the United States says it is within its rights to change the retaliation lists.

“That, in our view, is completely WTO-consistent,” a senior U.S. trade official said.

The WTO authorized the U.S. to impose duties on EU goods in both disputes. Washington can change the list if it wishes, the official said.

The aide, who spoke on condition he not be identified, also blasted a new EU proposal to modify its 11-year-old ban on beef produced with artificial growth hormones.

Armed with a new scientific opinion that growth hormones could cause cancer, the EU proposed this week to make its ban permanent on one of the hormones and provisional on five others.

“We’re, needless to say, troubled by that,” the senior U.S. trade official told reporters. “We’ve been hoping things would move in the other direction.”