990528 U.S. Tells EU to Take Politics Out of Beef Battle

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.

The statement came as the superpowers continued to spew venom across the Atlantic Ocean over a variety of trade disputes, from bananas to beef to biotechnology.

"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 hearing.

His statement came on the heels of the EU's announcement that it would not lift a ban on imports of hormone-treated beef after a new report by the 15- member body found that a hormone commonly used by the U.S. cattle industry could cause cancer.

"The scientific evidence...demonstrates that the Commission was right to strenuously defend the ban on hormones," EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Emma Bonino said in a statement. "We now have a scientific basis to defend our position."

Scher criticized the report as "a blatant attempt by the EU to avoid its World Trade Organization obligations" and pointed to numerous studies that found the hormones were safe. He accused the EU of playing politics ahead of a May 13 deadline set by the WTO for the EU to lift the ban.

EU officials said the U.S. insistence on the deadline was blocking chances for a 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.

Washington will issue a revised list of goods that could be targeted for retaliatory tariffs by early June, Scher said. An initial list includes products from motorcycles to chocolate.

The United States does not currently have any meetings scheduled with the EU to discuss the bitter trade dispute, Scher said.

U.S. trade officials have said they would consider an EU proposal to compensate U.S. 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.

U.S. producers supported another proposed compromise that would allow U.S. meat to enter the EU as long as it was labeled with "Made in the USA," but did not blatantly say the animals were treated with hormones.

"Our meat can compete because it's higher quality," said Nels Smith, president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. "I think labeling is not to admit it but to proclaim it."

One senator expressed skepticism that even if the EU would open its borders to U.S. hormone-treated beef, enough resistance has been built up that sales would be difficult to come by.

"Even if we win on the hormone issue, will we not have a marketing problem?" Sen. Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, asked.

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