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To: banco$ who wrote (135)	12/19/1998 10:24:00 AM
From: banco$	Respond to of 289

"Illegal Steel Imports Cited" (EU - France, Germany, Italy, & Britain) By ANICK JESDANUN Associated Press Writer Saturday December 19 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eight countries appear to be dumping stainless steel products in the United States at prices dramatically below production costs, the Commerce Department has found. If a full-scale investigation supports the preliminary ruling, imports from those countries could be subject to duties, possibly retroactively. For now, importers will be required to post a bond or cash deposit on shipments. Friday's ruling represented the latest victory for an industry that says it cannot compete against foreign producers flooding the U.S. market with steel at cut-rate prices. The department's finding covers stainless steel sold in flat sheets rolled up like carpet -- a product used to make kitchen sinks, dishwashers and other appliances -- from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan and Britain. Commerce issued a preliminary finding that the product has been sold here at up to 59 percent below cost, meaning the U.S. Customs Service will begin to collect a bond or deposit to make up the difference. The department now must issue a final ruling early next year, after which the independent U.S. International Trade Commission must decide whether any dumping has harmed or threatens to harm U.S. industry. Earlier, the department found preliminary evidence that France, Italy and South Korea also offered subsidies to their producers. Final determinations are expected next year as well. The government has two other dumping cases involving the stainless steel industry, as well as a broader complaint filed by the producers of basic, or carbon, steel. In the carbon steel case, Commerce already has found evidence of a massive surge in steel imports, meaning any duties would be retroactive to mid-November. The case ruled on Friday was filed by Allegheny Ludlum Corp., Armco Inc. (NYSE:AS - news) and J (JL - news)&L Specialty Steel Inc., all based in Pittsburgh, and the Washington Steel division of Bethlehem (NYSE:BS - news) Steel Corp. in Coatesville, Pa. The United Steel Workers of America and smaller labor unions also participated.

To: banco$ who wrote (135)	12/19/1998 10:32:00 AM
From: banco$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 289

"U.S., EU at Stalemate Over Imports" - By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer Friday December 18 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Talks between President Clinton and the 15-nation European Union failed to achieve a breakthrough Friday in a nasty trade fight involving bananas. The United States indicated it will press ahead with punitive tariffs on millions of dollars worth of European imports. Both sides held out the hope that the dispute, which has dragged on for six years, will be resolved short of a trade war between America and its largest trading partner. But U.S. officials stressed that they would go ahead with plans to select next week a list of European imports that would be subject to 100 percent tariffs, in effect doubling their costs, to American consumers. The products will be chosen from a preliminary list of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in imports published last month ranging from wine, cheese and other food products, clothes and toys. Negotiations will continue after the target list of products is published but if the dispute is not resolved, the United States said the punitive tariffs will go into effect, probably on March 3. The EU has vowed to impose retaliatory tariffs on a matching amount of American goods if the United States makes good on its threat. The fight involves European import rules that the United States contends favor bananas from the Caribbean and Africa at the expense of Latin American bananas marketed by U.S. companies. The United States has won a favorable ruling from the World Trade Organization and argues that it is justified in imposing trade sanctions because the EU has failed to remove the objectionable trade barriers in a way that is consistent with the WTO ruling. After meeting with the president and other officials in the administration, Sir Leon Brittan, the EU minister in charge of trade matters, said the Europeans had appealed for a few more weeks in which to try to find a suitable compromise. ''It should not be the case that we get into a bitter and disagreeable conflict when it can be resolved in just a few weeks more,'' Brittan told reporters outside the White House. Stuart Eizenstat, undersecretary of state for economic affairs, told reporters at a separate briefing that U.S. officials were willing to listen to suggestions the EU has put forward but would at the same time push forward with the process to impose the sanctions. ''We have to have confidence that when we win WTO cases, that the results will be implemented,'' Eizenstat said. In addition to the fight over bananas, the two sides talked about a number of other economic issues and various foreign policy problems from Kosovo and the Middle East peace process to the bombing of Iraq. Clinton's meeting with the European leaders, led by Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima, are part of twice yearly summits the two sides have. Coming on a day when the House was debating sending four impeachment articles to the Senate for trial, administration officials said that the president spent two hours engaged in the discussions, including lunch. Clinton pointed to a rising U.S. trade deficit and stressed the need for Europe to make a greater effort to buy imports from countries suffering from economic troubles because of the current global financial crisis, U.S. officials said. Brittan told reporters that Europe made the point that it was doing more than the United States in terms of buying steel from Russia and the Ukraine. ''I explained that what is important is that rather than engage in mutual recriminations over who is taking more or who is taking less, we should resist protectionist pressures'' on both sides of the Atlantic, Brittan said. The two sides also discussed another long-running trade dispute involving a European ban on importing American beef containing growth hormones. While the United States also has won a favorable WTO ruling in that case, the Europeans have yet to remove the barriers although they have until May to do so.

To: banco$ who wrote (135)	1/12/1999 8:52:00 PM
From: banco$	Respond to of 289

"U.S. Steps Up Banana Trade War" - Tuesday January 12 GENEVA (AP) -- Increasing the threat of a multimillion-dollar trade war over bananas, the United States said Tuesday it would notify the World Trade Organization on Jan. 25 of its intention to slap sanctions on the European Union. U.S. trade ambassador Rita Hayes said Washington would impose 100 percent tariffs against a wide range of European products regardless of renewed WTO moves to assess whether EU banana import laws break international trade rules. EU ambassador Roderick Abbott rejected U.S. offers of further negotiations to settle the dispute. ''There are two little problems,'' Abbott said in a message to the United States and its allies in Central America. ''One is that you are threatening us with $500 million worth of retaliation and people don't negotiate very well under the threat of a big stick. The other one is that you are the only people who say we have to change.'' The banana dispute has rumbled on for years. It began when the EU decided to provide better access to bananas from former European colonies at the expense of U.S.-owned Latin American producers who serve 85 percent of the world market. A 1997 WTO panel ruling said this violated fair trade rules. The European Union says it has changed its laws to conform with the WTO judgment. But the United States and Central American banana producers say it hasn't done enough. The WTO meeting Tuesday agreed to requests from the EU and Ecuador to reconvene the 1997 panel to examine whether the EU had complied. Ecuador, one of the biggest banana producers, hopes the panel will find the EU in the wrong. The EU hopes it will be vindicated. Tuesday's decision complicates an already difficult legal situation. The WTO, set up in 1995, has never been asked to approve sanctions and trade experts are uncertain how to proceed. The EU has warned that U.S. sanctions action may risk setting off a tit-for-tat war. The Clinton administration last month announced a list of European export items that would be subject to 100 percent tariffs, ranging from greeting cards to cashmere sweaters. The sanctions would be likely to come into force in March and hit Britain and Italy hardest. (By NAOMI KOPPEL, Associated Press Writer)

To: banco$ who wrote (135)	1/12/1999 9:13:00 PM
From: banco$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 289

US tariffs on EU products "as early as Feb. 1...no later than March 3" "U.S. threatens EU with tariffs as the banana split gets wider The U.S., moving to punish the European Union in a trade dispute involving bananas, on Monday published a list of EU products that will face 100% tariffs as early as Feb. 1. THE LIST IS “intended to send a clear and unambiguous message” that the U.S. expects the EU to meet the obligations of its membership in the World Trade Organization, said Peter Scher, a special U.S. trade negotiator for agriculture. The tariffs could cost European producers “hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the sanctions are intended to offset “the damage caused by the EU's discriminatory banana regime.” She said “our door remains open to a negotiated solution.” But as recently as Friday a meeting between Sir Leon Brittan, the European Union's trade minister, and President Clinton and other administration officials failed to produce an agreement. The WTO ruled in 1997 that the EU's trade regime on bananas violates global trade rules, giving the 15-nation union 15 months to modify the rules. But Mr. Scher said the EU has repeatedly delayed making changes. The “failure of the EU to abide by the panel decisions of the WTO is undermining the credibility of the system,” he said. The U.S. list of EU products that could face punitive tariffs comprises 16 tariff lines involving products ranging from chandeliers and lighting fixtures to Pecorino cheese. Other targeted items include: candles, sweet biscuits, bath additives, handbags, folding cartons, greeting cards, lithographs, cashmere garments, cotton bed linen, certain batteries and electric coffee and tea makers. But not all of those products may actually be subject to tariff increases, Mr. Scher said, because the U.S. is open to a negotiated settlement of the banana dispute. “When we put out a proposed list, it is by practice larger than we will actually implement,” Mr. Scher said. The U.S. contends the EU's trade rules on bananas discriminate in favor of bananas imported from former European colonies in the Caribbean and against bananas from Central American nations that are grown by U.S. companies such as Chiquita Brands International Inc. Mr. Scher said the U.S. will seek authorization from the WTO on Jan. 21 to impose the punitive tariffs, which will not be applied to products from the Netherlands and Denmark. That's because the two EU countries have opposed the union's current stance on banana-trade rules. The WTO has until Jan. 31 to grant authorization, unless the EU requests arbitration to decide whether the level of the tariffs is greater than the damage done to the U.S. by the EU banana rules. In any event, unless the EU rules are changed, the punitive tariffs will take effect no later than March 3, Mr. Scher said. “If the EU is prepared to negotiate with us to implement a WTO-consistent regime by March 3, we are prepared to suspend this action,” he said." msnbc.com