![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Business | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
Wednesday, 6 March, 2002, 13:03 GMT
Trade war looms over steel dispute
![]() US steel workers have lobbied vociferously
The European Union has vowed to
protect its own steel industry in the wake of the US decision to slap punishing penalties on imported steel.
EU Trade Minister Pascal Lamy said the US decision would hurt the EU in an "unjustified and unfounded way". "We will do everything we possibly can to protect our own industry and our own jobs," Mr Lamy said. President George W Bush's decision is in response to pressure from the US steel industry, which is struggling to compete with cheaper products from abroad.
While the move may safeguard thousands of jobs within the US steel industry, it will put pressure on non-US firms to make further cutbacks. US steel imports were worth about $8.6bn last year, making up 10% of world trade in steel. The EU is afraid of a flood of surplus steel imports from countries such as Japan which will no longer be able to compete in the US. Retaliation A host of other countries have expressing their worries over the US decision, including Japan, Brazil, Australia and South Korea.
Downing Street said that UK Prime Minister Blair had written to Mr Bush to warn him that tariffs would be bad not only for the world economy, but also for American consumers, who would be forced to pay more for steel products.
The US ambassador in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to be told that relations could be damaged if the tariffs were imposed.
A senior Brazilian trade negotiator, Jose Alfredo Graca Lima, also criticised the move. "We have been an indiscriminate and unfair victim of the United States," he said. And Japanese Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma said they regretted that the decision had been made "without listening to the voices of its trade partners." Short term measures? The duties, ranging from 8% to 30%, will take effect on 20 March and affect 10 separate steel products. It can be amended by the White House if the steel industry's financial crisis worsens or improves.
The decision was described by advisers and lawmakers as a compromise approach, designed to protect US industry while minimising criticism from abroad, and from American manufacturers that rely on cheap steel. Several trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, are exempted. Job losses Thousands of US workers have lost their jobs as a result of numerous US steel firms going bust over the last few years.
But European steel-makers, including Britain's Corus, fear that US tariffs could limit access for their product in the lucrative American market as well as diverting exports from other countries to Europe, harming local industry.
|
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Business stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Business stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |