Britain’s Treasury chief, Gordon Brown, on Tuesday warned against tit-for-tat protectionist measures in the dispute between the European Union and the United States over American tariffs on foreign steel.
Brown, speaking before the arrival later Tuesday of President George Bush, noted that the European Commission had asserted its right to impose retaliatory measures for the high US tariffs on imported steel.
The World Trade Organisation last week ruled that the American duties violated international fair-trade rules, leading the European Union to threaten $2,2-billion in retaliatory sanctions if the penalties are not lifted immediately. Japan and China followed with similar threats.
”But we’ve got to avoid this tit-for-tat protectionism. We’ve got to avoid what really damaged the economies of the 1930s, a descent into protectionism all round,” Brown told BBC radio. ”That’s why I think that statesmanship should prevail in the long run on this.”
Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesperson said on Monday that the issue of steel tariffs would likely be raised during Bush’s four-day state visit to Britain and that ”we would continue to keep up the pressure”.
British Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has warned of a trans-Atlantic trade war unless Washington lifts the tariffs.
Bush said on Sunday he had not decided whether to lift the penalties. The Bush administration is facing heavy pressure from steel-producing states to keep the tariffs in place.
”I’m thinking about it,” Bush told reporters. ”I’ve got some considerations. People are presenting reports to me, which I will look at.”
Brown said he would discuss the issue with US Treasury Secretary John Snow later on Tuesday during a visit to Birmingham in central England to address the Confederation of British Industry.
He said he couldn’t predict what action the United States or EU might take in response to the WTO ruling, but added that ”I also know we have got to make it possible to end these damaging disputes for the future.
”I believe people do see the need to move beyond this dispute,” he said. — Sapa-AP