990312 Europe, US Trade Dispute Rages On

Geneva - If bananas seem a little unlikely as a subject for a major international trade dispute, seasoned trade diplomats have been through much worse.

In its four-year history, the World Trade Organization has looked at enough foodstuffs to put anyone off their dinner, including nectarines, walnuts, tomatoes, beef, processed cheese, rice, salmon and shrimp.

And it's not just about food. A glance through the alphabetical listing of disputes beyond bananas brings up brooms, buses, butter, cattle, cement, coated woodfree paper sheets, coconuts, computers, copyright and corn syrup.

At the WTO, trusted by 134 countries to solve their international trading disputes, even a minor item can become a multimillion-dollar problem.

The United States and European Union are battling in the WTO over EU controls on banana imports, which Washington complains are squeezing out U.S. growers. In retaliation, Washington put into effect Wednesday hefty tariffs on millions of dollars of European goods.

For those involved, bananas are a serious issue which goes not only to the heart of European import policies but also to the heart of the WTO itself.

But a case for seriousness was rather thwarted by the American trade ambassador, Rita Hayes, who told reporters that the EU was suffering from “a case of sour grapes over bananas.”

Among other issues that have been the subject of WTO discussions are the matter of United States quotas on the importation of underwear from Costa Rica and a complaint by Washington about the lack of openings for overseas companies to produce commercial telephone directories in Belgium.

If the item is large enough, a trade dispute can center on a single object. The European Union complained to the WTO about the procedures used by Japan in its purchase of a navigational satellite.

Although the WTO may only just have celebrated its fourth birthday, trade disputes are nothing new.

In 1880, fueled by the fear of cheap imports, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck banned American pork from his country.

His justification was the increasing number of trichina worms being found in hog's meat from Cincinnati and the danger to the population from disease. The dispute lasted 11 years.

More than a century later, the European Union banned imports of hormone- treated beef from countries including the United States and Canada, claiming there was a cancer risk. That dispute, which comes to a head in May, could well be the next banana battle.

This Article Compliments of...