WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A free-trade agreement between the United States and the European Union may be needed to resolve a number of trade disputes, a panel of former U.S. trade representatives said Friday.
At a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mickey Kantor, who was former President Bill Clinton's first trade representative, said the United States and EU needed a comprehensive solution to disputes ranging from beef and bananas to corporate export subsidies.
The disputes, although affecting a relatively modest volume of trade, have strained cross-Atlantic relations and put World Trade Organization dispute settlement mechanisms to the test.
Kantor suggested the United States negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU as part of a larger strategy aimed at launching a new round of WTO talks.
That should be accompanied by an offer of debt reduction for developing nations and a commitment by wealthy nations to open their market to sensitive imports, he said.
Charlene Barshefsky, Clinton's second trade representative, said she also supported a free trade pact with Europe.
"I agree with Mickey. It would be a positive step" that could help resolve outstanding disputes, she said.
But Clinton administration's efforts in that area ran into opposition from France and other EU members because of the concern it could detract from the effort to launch broader trade talks, she said.
Barshefsky, who left office only three weeks ago, said it was mainly up to the EU to take the steps to get a new round of WTO trade talks off the ground.
In addition to scaling back the "grossly unwieldy agenda" it proposed at the failed Seattle WTO ministerial meeting, it must drop its resistance to negotiations on an ambitious agricultural reform pact, she said.
Fort its part, the United States should be prepared for talks on anti-dumping and countervailing duty measures, which are the "Achilles' heel" of U.S. trade policy, she said.
Carla Hills, trade representative during the administration of President George W. Bush's father, was more cautious on the idea of a trade agreement between the EU and United States.
A rich countries trade pact could create "political resentment" among less prosperous nations, she said.
If Europe is not prepared to negotiate within the WTO, the United States should focus its efforts in other areas and move aggressively on regional free trade pacts in Asia and the Western hemisphere, Hills said.
To push trade negotiations along, the United States "needs to make clear" to developing countries it is prepared to make concessions in import sensitive areas, Hills said.
WTO chief Mike Moore, who will be Washington later this month for talks with U.S. officials, has urged countries to agree on an agenda for a new round of WTO talks by July 31.
If that target is missed, it is unlikely a new round will be launched at the next WTO ministerial meeting in Qatar from Nov 9-13, Hills said.
Bill Brock, who served as trade representative during the first half of the Reagan administration, said it would be up to Europe to initiate talks on a free trade pact.
While it may be a good idea, the political reality is "it'll never happen if it comes from us," Brock said.
The demise of the Soviet Union, which united industrial economies in the past, and the accelerating pace of change has made trade negotiations more difficult, he said.:
