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By Patrick Lannin and Shinichi Kishima
BRUSSELS/TOKYO (Reuters) - Europe and Asia Tuesday ratcheted up the pressure on the United States to scrap steel tariffs outlawed by the World Trade Organization (news - web sites), with the European Union (news - web sites) threatening sanctions by mid December.
The EU has said it will slap retaliatory duties on $2.2 billion of U.S. goods if the steel duties, approved by President Bush (news - web sites) in March 2002, remain in place after a final confirmation of the WTO ruling early next month.
The goods targeted by the EU sanctions plan are designed to have a political as well as economic impact as Bush seeks a second presidential term next year.
One group is citrus products from Florida, where Bush's brother is governor and which was the key to the president's 2000 election win.
"We hope, in light of this decision, that President Bush will act quickly to remove the 201 (import) restrictions, so that we can get on with supplying our U.S. customers on a fair and equitable basis," said Anglo-Dutch group Corus, Europe's third-largest steel maker.
French Finance Minister Francis Mer, a former steel industry baron, said the WTO's highest court had no option but to rule that Washington's so-called "safeguard" measures were inconsistent with the world trade body's requirements.
"I welcome it with a certain smile," said Mer. "Because everyone knew that there could be no other conclusion for an initiative that didn't necessarily have just commercial dimensions."
The WTO highest court ruled Monday that the U.S. duties violated international trade laws, but Japan and South Korea (news - web sites) said they would delay any retaliatory action pending a formal response from the Bush administration.
"The verdict is out and we have already sent out a message that we want them to go by the book. We are waiting to see how they will respond," said Japanese Trade Minister Shoichi Nakagawa.
The United States has said it considers the tariffs "fully consistent" with trade rules and said it would study the WTO report.
EU READY TO RETALIATE
The EU sanctions will come into play by Dec. 15 at the latest, after the WTO has adopted its appeal panel ruling.
"Countermeasures by the EU can only be held off if the United States implements the WTO ruling rapidly," said Ludolf von Wartenberg, director of the German BDI industry federation.
Japan will hold talks over the next 30 days with the EU and the six other states that filed against the tariffs, Nakagawa said. He declined to comment on possible counter-measures but did not rule out Japanese tariffs on items other than steel.
China welcomed the WTO ruling. "We hope...the United States will carry out its international obligations as soon as possible and withdraw the measures protecting steel," said Ministry of Commerce spokesman Chong Quan.
The dispute between the EU and the United States comes as the WTO is trying to resurrect trade talks which collapsed in Cancun, Mexico in September, largely over protectionist subsidies.
The EU has insisted there is no link between the trade rows. "I suspect it is partly on a separate track," said former Canadian ambassador to the WTO John Weekes.
But he added: "EU and U.S. trade relations are possibly at their worst point since the WTO was launched (in 1995).
"It has always been easier to resist protectionism or the taking of defensive action if actively engaged in a process of trade liberalization." (Additional reporting by Yoo Choonsik in Seoul, Nick Tattersall in Frankfurt, James Mackenzie in Berlin, Santosh Menon in London, Richard Waddington in Frankfurt and Jonathan Ansfield and Cher Gao in Beijing)
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We enact tariffs and the rest of the world retaliates by threatening to enact duties on our imports (my local paper said up to 100% duties), thereby effectively pricing American exports out of foreign markets.
Our domestic steel industry will be protected and we will end up paying higher steel prices, all at the sacrifice of jobs that will be lost by the companies that manufacture products for export.
Are you all still in favor of these tariffs?? I haven't been in favor and I am most certainly not now.
By Patrick Lannin and Shinichi Kishima
BRUSSELS/TOKYO (Reuters) - Europe and Asia Tuesday ratcheted up the pressure on the United States to scrap steel tariffs outlawed by the World Trade Organization (news - web sites), with the European Union (news - web sites) threatening sanctions by mid December.
The EU has said it will slap retaliatory duties on $2.2 billion of U.S. goods if the steel duties, approved by President Bush (news - web sites) in March 2002, remain in place after a final confirmation of the WTO ruling early next month.
The goods targeted by the EU sanctions plan are designed to have a political as well as economic impact as Bush seeks a second presidential term next year.
One group is citrus products from Florida, where Bush's brother is governor and which was the key to the president's 2000 election win.
"We hope, in light of this decision, that President Bush will act quickly to remove the 201 (import) restrictions, so that we can get on with supplying our U.S. customers on a fair and equitable basis," said Anglo-Dutch group Corus, Europe's third-largest steel maker.
French Finance Minister Francis Mer, a former steel industry baron, said the WTO's highest court had no option but to rule that Washington's so-called "safeguard" measures were inconsistent with the world trade body's requirements.
"I welcome it with a certain smile," said Mer. "Because everyone knew that there could be no other conclusion for an initiative that didn't necessarily have just commercial dimensions."
The WTO highest court ruled Monday that the U.S. duties violated international trade laws, but Japan and South Korea (news - web sites) said they would delay any retaliatory action pending a formal response from the Bush administration.
"The verdict is out and we have already sent out a message that we want them to go by the book. We are waiting to see how they will respond," said Japanese Trade Minister Shoichi Nakagawa.
The United States has said it considers the tariffs "fully consistent" with trade rules and said it would study the WTO report.
EU READY TO RETALIATE
The EU sanctions will come into play by Dec. 15 at the latest, after the WTO has adopted its appeal panel ruling.
"Countermeasures by the EU can only be held off if the United States implements the WTO ruling rapidly," said Ludolf von Wartenberg, director of the German BDI industry federation.
Japan will hold talks over the next 30 days with the EU and the six other states that filed against the tariffs, Nakagawa said. He declined to comment on possible counter-measures but did not rule out Japanese tariffs on items other than steel.
China welcomed the WTO ruling. "We hope...the United States will carry out its international obligations as soon as possible and withdraw the measures protecting steel," said Ministry of Commerce spokesman Chong Quan.
The dispute between the EU and the United States comes as the WTO is trying to resurrect trade talks which collapsed in Cancun, Mexico in September, largely over protectionist subsidies.
The EU has insisted there is no link between the trade rows. "I suspect it is partly on a separate track," said former Canadian ambassador to the WTO John Weekes.
But he added: "EU and U.S. trade relations are possibly at their worst point since the WTO was launched (in 1995).
"It has always been easier to resist protectionism or the taking of defensive action if actively engaged in a process of trade liberalization." (Additional reporting by Yoo Choonsik in Seoul, Nick Tattersall in Frankfurt, James Mackenzie in Berlin, Santosh Menon in London, Richard Waddington in Frankfurt and Jonathan Ansfield and Cher Gao in Beijing)
--------------------------
We enact tariffs and the rest of the world retaliates by threatening to enact duties on our imports (my local paper said up to 100% duties), thereby effectively pricing American exports out of foreign markets.
Our domestic steel industry will be protected and we will end up paying higher steel prices, all at the sacrifice of jobs that will be lost by the companies that manufacture products for export.
Are you all still in favor of these tariffs?? I haven't been in favor and I am most certainly not now.
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