No. 200 | October 18, 1999 | Page A-26 | ISSN 1523-567X | Regulation, Law & Economics | International Trade | By Gary G. Yerkey
Sen. William V. Roth (R-Del.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Oct. 15 that political support for trade will continue to erode unless U.S. and European negotiators manage to resolve their differences over disputes covering everything from bananas to beef to aircraft noise.
He said that the United States and the European Union should be collaborating closely in advance on the agenda for the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle beginning next month. "Instead," he said, "we are mired in a series of disputes. ...
"We need to clear up these disputes in order to maintain political support in the United States for trade," Roth said. "We are facing rising protectionism in both parties and in the U.S. public. It is difficult to persuade the American public and members of Congress to support the cause of trade in the absence of concrete progress on the issues that divide the U.S. and Europe."
U.S. officials, however, reported no tangible progress in talks held in Washington, D.C., Oct. 15 between the EU's chief trade negotiator -- Pascal Lamy -- and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.
Amy Stilwell, a USTR spokeswoman, said that the two officials met for about two hours but discussed a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues only in general terms.
"They did not discuss specific issues in detail," she said. "This meeting was an opportunity for a general review of a broad range of issues."
She called the talks "positive and constructive."
"No positions were outlined," Stilwell said. "They didn't get into nitty-gritty substance on anything. It wasn't the type of meeting where they were sitting down to resolve issues. It was just an overview."
It was Lamy's first official visit to the United States since assuming his post as European Trade Commissioner, replacing Sir Leon Brittan, last month.
Roth said after meeting Lamy that he had told the EU trade official that, with respect to the agenda for the new round of WTO trade talks, "we particularly need to see substantial reductions in agricultural subsidies and other barriers to farm trade."
He said that, in the meeting, he had urged Lamy to ensure European compliance with the WTO rulings on bananas and beef. "I told him that we are interested in market access for our goods, not retaliation against European products. Retaliation helps no one."
Roth said that he had also expressed concern over the EU's rules on aircraft noise abatement -- the so-called hushkits issue -- noting that they have become a "serious irritant in our trade relations that needs to be removed."
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), ranking Democrat on the finance committee, also participated in the meeting, Roth said.
Copyright c 1999 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.No. 200:
