Brussels, 17/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The natural catastrophe of 11 March in Japan and the attendant nuclear disaster should not plunge the global economy into crisis but might disrupt trade, explained EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht in an interview with newspaper The Australian on Thursday 17 March: “It could have an impact economically because Japan is very important in the global supply chain, especially in components. One fifth of (electronic) components are manufactured in Japan. This is going to disrupt global production, for example in mobile phone industry. The same goes for steel. But we should not be dramatising the situation. It is not true that it will lead to a new global economic crisis. If we do not get into a nuclear scenario, I believe that Japan will rather quickly overcome this crisis.” (E.H./transl.fl)