U.S. And Britain Talk Bananas
Britain and the United States agreed Saturday that urgent talks between the U.S. and the European Union were needed to resolve a growing trade row over bananas, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said.
Cook, speaking after a two-hour meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at his country residence, said both sides felt a solution to the deepening dispute over banana imports should be found as soon as possible.
The European Union filed a complaint against the U.S. before the World Trade Organization on Thursday, saying U.S. moves to impose sanctions in the banana dispute violate global trading laws.
The U.S. says American banana companies lose $520 million annually in sales to Europe because of illegal trade barriers.
The big American fruit companies that grow bananas in Central America have argued that Europe unfairly favors bananas grown by its former colonies in the Caribbean and Africa.
The Clinton administration has strongly backed the complaints of companies like Chiquita, a generous contributor to both the Republican and Democratic parties.
As a result, the administration notified U.S. importers that they are liable for hefty tariffs on $520 million worth of European goods.
Cook said he and Albright "both agreed that what is needed is urgent talks. We cannot allow this dispute to damage relations between us. We both need an urgent resolution and both agreed to seek one," he told reporters after the talks.
"I will be reporting to my colleagues in the other European capitals to urge them to back early talks to find an early solution," Cook said, adding that he had made clear once again how displeased Britain was with Washington's actions.
"We can't understand why the United States couldn't wait another two weeks (for the WTO ruling) but under the present conditions we can't wait another few weeks to resolve this problem," he said.
Prime Minister Tony Blair was also expected to telephone President Bill Clinton on Saturday to discuss the dispute.
A British official said before the talks that it would be wrong to bill the hastily arranged meeting between Cook and Albright as crisis talks over the banana issue. Cook said the two had had "a full discussion" on the matter.
If allowed to stand, the U.S. tariffs calculated to hurt European exporters could also hurt American importers, reports CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews.
The retaliatory action could double the price Americans will pay for European imports, ranging from French handbags to British cashmeres. Industries on the hit list, such as Scottish knitwear firm Cashmere Co., are appalled.
"We close. It's as simple as that," says Cashmere Co.'s managing director Arthur Rennie.
Europe has asked the WTO to invoke an emergency meeting during which the United States and the 15-nation EU trading bloc would have 20 days to settle their differences. If no compromise was reaced, the EU could then ask the WTO to rule on the dispute.
Officials say the conference will probably be called for early next week if a majority of the 133 member countries agree.
If this were just about bananas, it wouldn't be a major problem. But the dispute is symptomatic of growing tensions between the United States and the European Union. America and Europe are the world's biggest trading partners. However, they are beginning to talk like rivals.
Europeans are already complaining about hormones in American beef exports and genetically modified American foods. They are planning to ban many older American airplanes from landing in Europe because they are too noisy.