Strasbourg, 15/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - In his first speech made in Europe (on 15 May in Strasbourg, before the Kangaroo Group chaired by the MEP Karl von Wogau), the American Representative for trade negotiations, Robert B Zoellick, said he hoped that MEPs will be an ally in the launching of a new world round of trade negotiations, and that they insist for a CAP reform, the EU enlargement to the East and the opening of the European doors to the delicious foods of the entire world. If, instead of talking to us, we spoke alongside each other, the costs risks being high (…) If the United States and the EU do not undertake to work together to launch a new global trade round in November, it will not happen, asserted Mr Zoellick.
In a speech centred on cooperation between the two shores of the Atlantic, in which he nevertheless used at least three times the word "sovereignty", Mr Zoellick said that it would in particular be a case of examining a "series of ideas allowing to improve working and environmental conditions of our trading partners, to the extent where these actions are not protectionist and take into account sensitivities in terms of sovereignty. The trade system should respect local differences that reflect the decisions of sovereign governments, he underlined. He also outlined five elements specific to the Washington trade agenda, namely: - the United States will contribute towards launching a new round in the WTO, while pursuing regional agreements, such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas or bilateral agreements with countries such as Chile or Singapore; - Washington will try to extend the benefits of free trade to the developing world. There, Mr Zoellick announced that the United States would contribute around one million dollars to the WTO fund for technical assistant aimed at LDC; - it will be necessary to help those that have difficulties to adapt to the changes caused by technology, change and other forces; - it is necessary to align the world trade system to our values, by encouraging open and effective markets, while respecting national sovereignty; - transparency should become a characteristic of all future agreements and trade negotiations.
Monday evening, before the European Parliament Trade and Industry Committee, Mr Zoellick expressed himself in a very explicit manner over the dispute between the United States and the European Union concerning the American FSC legislation (Foreign Sales Corporation), which the Union is challenging before the WTO. There is here a nuclear weapon which, if we do not reach a solution soon, risks exploding during the EU/United States summit in Gothenburg, said Mr Zoellick.
EUROPE recalls that this dispute targets tax breaks granted to exporting American companies, including some American beacons, is in arbitration at the WTO over three aspects: (1) the checking of the legality of the new American tax provisions meant to correct the illicit aspects of the Foreign Sales Corporations system; (2) the authorisation requested by the Union to be able to sanction American trade to the value of USD 4.043 billion per year; (3) the challenge by the United States against the extent of the prejudice claimed by the Europeans.
During the press conference, questioned over the FSC case, Mr Zoellick, when recalling that the WTO will hand down its ruling on this issue during this month, stated: "If we do not win this case (…), this could create an opening for some questions on the European tax system". This concerns a sum of USD 4 billion, he noted, adding that "this could force us" to open with the EU tax dossier or "other major trade issues", and thus become "one of the biggest issue on the horizon".
Mr Zoellick was also questioned, in particular, of the Airbus dispute, and said on this issue that the United States was trying to gain further information on the "subsidies enjoyed by this project". This does not concern subsidies, but loans that are reimbursed, corrected the British Labour member, Imelda Read, who took part in the press conference with Mr Zoellick. We are trying in particular to check to see whether the reimbursement of the loans is linked to acquisitions, commented Mr Zoellick.