990519 US Repeats Vow To Retaliate Against EU Beef Ban

Washington - The United States repeated its vow to impose tariffs on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of European Union products if the EU does not lift its ban on hormone-treated beef.

"If the EU does not lift this ban, we will retaliate this summer," Peter Scher, agricultural ambassador with the U.S. Trade Representative's office, told a Senate trade subcommittee hearing.

Scher criticized a new EU report that found one of the hormones commonly used by U.S. cattlemen could cause cancer, calling the report "a blatant attempt by the EU to avoid its World Trade Organization obligations."

Washington will issue a revised list of goods that could be targeted for retaliatory tariffs by early June, Scher said. The U.S. does not currently have any meetings scheduled with the EU to discuss the bitter trade dispute, he added.

Earlier, the European Commission said it would not lift its ban on imports of hormone-treated beef because of health questions raised by the new study. The commission said it would decide next week how to respond to the May 13 deadline imposed by Washington.

EU officials also said the U.S. insistence on the deadline was blocking any compromise. But Scher told reporters the deadline was set by the WTO 15 months ago, not by Washington.

"Those are rules that the EU agreed to abide by when it joined the WTO," he said.

U.S. trade officials have said they would consider an EU proposal to compensate American cattlemen for the lost sales, but only if the move was a precursor to the EU fully opening its borders to hormone-treated beef. Scher said the EU did not seem eager to offer adequate compensation to the United States.

"It's not clear to us that there is a serious effort underway in the EU to offer compensation," he said.

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