990380 U.S. Sets Initial Retaliation List in EU Beef Dispute

Washington - The United States targeted more than $900 million of European Union goods for possible retaliation on Monday as it tried to force a resolution to a 10-year-old dispute over hormone-treated beef.

In a telephone news conference with reporters, special U.S. trade negotiator for agriculture Peter Scher told reporters that a large portion of the preliminary list, which will be finalized sometime in early June, targets EU meat products and other agricultural goods for retaliation.

The EU faces a May 13 World Trade Organization deadline to comply with two dispute settlement panel rulings against its 10-year-ban on imports of beef produced from cattle injected with artificial growth hormones.

Scher declined to give a dollar amount for the final retaliation list, that will be published in early June. “We haven't made determination,” he said. “The final damage estimate will reflect whatever we think our yearly loss is” due to the import ban, he said.

The United States remains willing to negotiate a “reasonable labeling regime” for hormone-treated beef that would allow EU consumers to decide whether to eat the product, Scher said. If no such agreement emerges, 100-percent duties on the final list of EU goods would go into effect on June 13 at the earliest and July 13 at the latest, he said.

The U.S. cattle industry estimates that it loses several hundred million dollars annually in sales to the EU because of the ban on hormone-treated beef. The six artificial growth hormones at issue in the dispute have tested safe for human consumption since the 1950s, Scher said.

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