Russ this whole FN mess is gonna blow up sky high over trade wars or currency wars.
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The United States said on Thursday it would fight efforts by the European Union and other major U.S. trading partners to slap sanctions on U.S. exports potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The new move to seek sanctions by the EU, Canada, Japan,
India, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and South Korea was aimed at a
controversial U.S. trade law -- known as the Byrd amendment -- which the World Trade Organization declared illegal one year ago.
The United States missed a Dec. 27 deadline to repeal the
law or face possible retaliation. U.S. trade officials said
they would continue urging Congress to take the measure off the books, while fighting the sanctions threat at the WTO.
The spat is the latest in a series of disputes involving
the government of U.S. President George W. Bush, an avowed free trader who critics accuse of being reluctant to bow to WTO rules when they go against the United States.
In the case of the Byrd amendment, Bush proposed repealing
the provision last year, saying revenues it generated could be put to better use. But he ran into strong opposition from both Republican and Democrats in Congress, who said the WTO overstepped its authority in striking down the measure.
The provision was signed into law by former President Bill
Clinton as part of a 2000 budget year spending bill. It changed how funds raised by anti-dumping duties on allegedly unfair imports are distributed.
Previously those duties went into the general U.S.
Treasury. But since 2001, the funds have been distributed to companies that brought anti-dumping cases.
Over the past three years, the United States has paid $710
million to U.S. ball bearing, steel, candle, pasta, seafood and other companies under the measure, named for Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat who helped it become law.
In future years, American lumber companies could receive
billions of dollars annually under the program if disputed U.S. anti-dumping duties on Canadian wood are included.
BYRD AMENDMENT
"The Byrd amendment has raised widespread concerns ... as
evidenced by the large number of complainants in this case," European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said in statement announcing the EU's plan to seek retaliation.
"I hope the U.S. will now take action to remove this
measure, thus avoiding the risk of sanctions, he added.
But even critics of the Byrd amendment said the EU and
other trading partners might have a tough time persuading the WTO to approve substantial sanctions in the dispute.
"I don't think they're going to get a big enough number
from the arbitrator to make the administration and the Congress jump," said Daniel Ikenson, a Cato Institute trade policy analyst who has urged the provision be repealed.
The retaliation request will be heard by the WTO's disputes
settlement body at a special session called for Jan. 26. EU and other officials have stressed that having the go-ahead does not mean sanctions will be immediately enforced.
As yet, the EU and its allies have put no figure on the
sanctions sought. But they said it should be in line with sums handed out by Washington to local firms.
Congressional supporters said the WTO should approve only a
very low level of retaliation, if any at all.
They argued the EU and other trading partners would be hard
pressed to show they have lost any trade because of the Byrd amendment. And unless they can prove that, they are not entitled to retaliation under WTO rules -- even if the Byrd amendment is illegal, congressional aides said.
John Veroneau, general counsel for the U.S. Trade
Representative's office, echoed that sentiment in a statement announcing the United States would fight the sanctions move.
"The retaliation being sought by the other complaining
parties does not appear to be based on actual harm to their
exports," Veroneau said. |
