Brussels, 30/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - The inclusion of a protectionist clause in favour of domestic steel products in the proposed US recovery plan of $819 billion, adopted by the House of Representatives on 28 January, causes concern among the United States' trading partners, and especially the Union. The provision in question, which appears in a bill nearly 650 pages long, bans the purchase of foreign iron or steel for infrastructure projects financed by the recovery plan, unless the US steel supply is not sufficient or its price increases the final cost of the project by over 25%. The adoption of such a clause, which meets the protectionist attempts of President Barack Obama, who is determined that the Congress should rapidly adopt a bill to create or safeguard between 3 and 4 million jobs in the United States, is still far from being certain, with the US Senate working on its own version of the text. The idea of a national preference for metals had, however, been issued in early January by the US steel industry, which is suffering from a collapse in its two major outlets - construction and the motor industry - and which does not wish to lose the market caused by the largest project for the modernisation of American public infrastructure since the 1950s. The controversial clause does not go unnoticed in Europe, where one fears a new “steel war” after that of 2003, albeit lost by the United States to the WTO. “We are looking at the situation. It would be premature to take a stance on this text before having its final version. We are nonetheless absolutely sure of one thing - we cannot ignore it and remain with our arms crossed doing nothing”, warned Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, speaking through the voice of her spokesman, Peter Power. Such an American decision could stir up transatlantic trade tension, already rekindled by the decision of the outgoing Bush administration in mid-January to triple US customs duties on Roquefort, in retaliation to the ban on US hormone-treated beef on the European market, and to resort to the WTO against the ban on imports into the Union of American chickens treated with chlorine washes. Denouncing a clause that “openly violates the laws of free trade and the fundamental rules of the WTO”, the Italian trade minister has already called for referral to the WTO to be prepared. (E.H./transl.jl)