Brussels, 04/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - During his weekend stop-offs in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo (as part of his Latin-American tour that ended this Monday, EUROPE will return to it), European Commissioner Pascal Lamy renewed his warning to the Bush Administration of the dangers of protectionist retaliation if inappropriate and prohibitive barriers were erected to protect the US steel market. The imminently expected Presidential ruling on trade "remedies" for an industry that is finding it difficult to restructure, seems likely to have to find a half-way road between the drastic measures demanded by the main beneficiaries (a 40% surtax for four years) and the lesser measures the targeted countries are hoping for, along with US steel importers, users and consumers. Going by the analysts and commentators in Washington, the half-way road might take the form of a 10 to 20% levy for two years, possibly accopanied by quotas on a product-specific basis.
Last weekend, Commissioner Lamy reiterated that the EU would not hesitate to take protective measures to safeguard the wellbeing of its steel market against a possible wave of imports that usually find their outlet on the other side of the Atlantic; and would have no qualms about making a formal complaint to the World Trade Organisation (see p.14). From Brazil to Russia, via South Korea and Japan, other countries that supply the US market have covertly or overtly threatened to take similar measures to the ones the Bush Administration seems to be heading towards. Attempting yet again to smooth out the situation on the other side of the Atlantic, Trade Representative Bob Zoellick said in a letter to Pascal Lamy that the Europeans had a long history of public support for their steel industry and that the WTO expressly authorises the use of safeguard measures to give temporary relief to an industry hit by imports and the time to restructure.