990558 Glickman Says USA & EU Should Tone Down Rhetoric

St. Louis, MO - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said both sides should tone down their rhetoric in a beef trade dispute that has the United States on the verge of imposing punitive duties on $202 million worth of European Union goods.

In a speech to the World Agricultural Forum, Glickman said that the United States would not back away from its insistence that the EU open its market to beef from hormone-treated cattle. But a solution may be easier to reach if both Washington and Brussels “tone down” their recent tough talk on the issue, he said.

After the speech, Glickman told reporters that he did not want the beef hormone dispute to become a defining trade issue between the United States and Europe. However, he acknowledged that merely adopting a softer tone might not persuade Europe to open its market before the retaliatory duties are scheduled to go into effect in mid-July.

The United States remains willing to discuss an interim compensation package with the European Union, as well as a labeling scheme that would allow European consumers to decide for themselves whether to buy the U.S. meat products, he said.

Issues such as the beef hormone dispute and concerns over genetically- modified crops could complicate the next round of world agricultural trade negotiations that are scheduled to begin in late November, Glickman said. Those issues are more difficult to address than typical trade agenda items such as tariffs, export subsidies and domestic support programs.

Another complicating factor for world trade talks could be low commodity prices which may make some nations more reluctant to adopt trade reforms, Glickman said.

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