Brussels, 08/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Washington has called for the EU to remove, with immediate effect, commercial sanctions it brought in against the United States in May 2005, as part of the dispute over the "Byrd Amendment". This American anti-dumping legislation, which the WTO declared illegal in 2003, was abolished last week by a very narrow vote in the American Congress, but the EU has countered that it intends to keep the sanctions in place for as long as American businesses are actually benefiting by the Byrd Amendment, as they will until 2008 or 2009 due to a planned phasing-out of two years (see EUROPE 9123). "The EU should declare victory and remove the retaliation", the Deputy US Trade Representative, Susan Schwab, told the press in Brussels on Wednesday. She added that "it would be most unfortunate if the EU decided to continue its retaliation measures at all, given the significant development in Congress, which showed political courage by voting the new legislation". Ambassador Schwab was in Brussels for consultations with, amongst others, the Director-General for Trade at the European Commission, David O'Sullivan.
When asked about the interim report by the WTO panel on the moratorium against imports of genetically modified organisms into the EU (see other article), Ms Schwab declined to comment on "a report which I've not read", but she did indicate that the United States are now hoping to see a "change of behaviour" on the part of the Europeans, to include "better trade flows" and fewer obstacles to exports of GMO to Europe. "What will be the impact of the report on this behaviour? Proof will be in trade flows and transparency in the authorisation process", she said. In Washington's view, the WTO report confirms the existence of obstacles to the import of GMO into the EU, "which proves that there is still work to be done" to open up trade, said Ms Schwab.
As to multilateral negotiations on the WTO on the Doha Round, Ms Schwab reiterated that the EU's offer on agriculture was not only insufficient, but that it also allowed other countries- such as Japan, China, India and Brazil- to "hide" behind the Union so as not to have to commit more to the Round. "The EU must be more forthcoming on agriculture if we are to break the way open", she insisted.
As for the Airbus/Boeing dispute (which is now in the hands of the WTO), Ms Schwab stressed the fact that the United States "genuinely" preferred a solution negotiated with the European Union, rather than going all the way with litigation in Geneva. "Will there be negotiations? I don't know. For now, both sides are really comfortable seeing the litigation going forward" at the WTO, she said.