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To: 49thMIMOMander who wrote (13261)	7/3/2001 8:20:02 AM
From: JohnG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 34857

GE-Honeywell veto pisses off the Texan. European Union of Sicialist Serfs found to be a group of trade protectionist and 2 bit, unelected, petty bureaucrats. Decisions are made capriciously, behind closed doors, based on no particular set of standards, based on hidden agendas, and with no judicial review. The Texan ponders response to terminate the economic damage being done to the US by these bumblers. MONDAY JULY 02 2001 Bush to throw 'protectionist bombshell' at Europe FROM CHRIS AYRES IN NEW YORK FEARS are growing that President Bush could throw a “protectionist bombshell” at Europe in retaliation for it blocking the $42 billion (£30 billion) acquisition of Honeywell International by General Electric. The EU’s decision to block the merger of the US industrial groups — which it could announce as early as tomorrow — is the latest in a series of transatlantic trade disputes that have strained relations between Washington and Brussels. The disputes, which threaten to trigger a full-scale trade war between two of the world’s biggest trading partners, come on top of transatlantic tensions over other issues such as the environment. The most likely target of US protectionism is the European steel industry. President Bush last week angered the EU by using section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act to launch a six-month investigation into the impact of European imports on the struggling US steel industry. If the investigation finds that imports are harming the US, President Bush can impose quotas on imports, punitive tariffs and other protectionist measures. This could have a devastating effect on European steelmakers, including Britain’s Corus, which export about five million tonnes of finished steel products to the US a year. The steel dispute comes amid an equally damaging row over tax subsidies given to US companies operating in Europe. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month ruled that the Bush Administration was breaking international trade regulations by offering the subsidies, and opened the door for the EU to impose $4 billion in sanctions against the US. Robert Zoellick, the US trade representative, said that imposing the sanctions would be like dropping a “nuclear weapon” on trade relations between the two continents. The US has already failed to hide its anger over the EU’s rejection of the Honeywell deal. The EU also last year blocked AOL Time Warner’s acquisition of EMI Group, the British record company. There are concerns in Washington that the EU has a hidden anti-US agenda. [Yes. Any Q long harbors more than a concern] President Bush recently said that he was concerned about the EU’s stance on Honeywell, while Donald Evans, the Commerce Secretary, pleaded with the EU to clear the industrial merger. Attempts by Washington to influence the EU’s investigation last month provoked a furious response from Mario Monti, the EU’s Competition Commissioner. He said: “I deplore attempts to misinform the public and to trigger political intervention. This is entirely out of place in an antitrust case and has had no impact on the Commission whatsoever. This is a matter of law and economics, not politics.” Imposing tough sanctions on European steel imports would be a popular move for President Bush in the US. The Speciality Steel Industry of North America, said last week: “We believe that substantial dumping continues in the US marketplace. We will closely monitor developments and, if and when appropriate, will ask the Administration to initiate additional section 201 cases on affected products.” Washington and Brussels are already involved in a related row over steel duties. The EU has threatened to take the US to a WTO dispute panel over its “anti-subsidy duties” on steel imports from about 16 European companies. The EU won a similar WTO case last year against the US over duties on imports of leaded bars produced by Corus.