U.S. Warns 11 Nations, EU of Sanctions

The Bush administration Monday put Japan, Brazil, South Korea and other countries on notice that they could face U.S. trade sanctions unless they remove objectionable barriers to U.S. products.

The notification is part of an annual review in which the administration releases its priority negotiating targets for the year based on an assessment of harm done to U.S. exporters.

The administration listed 11 countries and the 14-nation European Union in what is known as a Super 301 report, referring to a section of U.S. trade law. It allows the U.S. to seek trade sanctions against individual countries if intensive negotiations fail to remove the offending trade barriers.

The countries cited on the Super 301 list are Brazil, Mexico, India, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Israel and Malaysia.

Publication of the report does not automatically mean that unfair trade cases will be brought against the countries in the World Trade Organization, a step that ultimately could lead to sanctions if the United States prevailed. But the report does put U.S. trading partners on notice concerning negotiating priorities in the coming year.

“These are the practices and measures that we are focusing on as a matter of priority,” said a U.S. trade official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This does not trigger anything automatically.”

The types of trade covered ranged from barriers to the U.S. automotive industry, which the administration said had been erected by Japan and South Korea, to alleged agricultural barriers erected by Canada, Australia and Japan.