News Release
Pascal Lamy
No. 84/03
December 19, 2003
EU-US: EU ANNUAL REPORT ON US TRADE BARRIERS STRESSES
NEED FOR ENHANCED CO-OPERATION
The European Commission today released its
nineteenth annual report on barriers to trade and investment in the US, detailing
the obstacles that EU exporters and investors face in the US. It highlights those
obstacles which the EU believes are affecting the legitimate rights of EU companies
to conduct trade with the US. EU
Trade Commissioner
Pascal Lamy said: "Although the vast majority of transatlantic trade
passes unhindered, we need to review regularly those obstacles which exist and
pursue action to remove them. This will ensure that business on both sides of
the Atlantic benefit from clearer, more transparent trading conditions. This is
also why we need to advance in the
Positive Economic Agenda adopted in May 2002."
Since the last such report the EU has successfully challenged the US on a number
of trade barriers, notably:
-
US steel
safeguard measures, where the WTO ruled in favour of the EU and its eight
co-complainants on the US steel safeguard measures (originally imposed in March
2002). The US President finally rescinded these measures on 4 December 2003.
-
Foreign
Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act (FSC/ETI
scheme), where the WTO has authorised the EU to impose countermeasures in
case of non-compliance by the US. The EU has now decided to introduce sanctions
on 1 March 2004 if the US has not complied by then.
-
Byrd
Amendment Act, where the WTO set a deadline of 27
December 2003 for the US
to bring its Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (the so-called “Byrd
Amendment”) into WTO compliance, a deadline which will not be met since Congress
has now closed down for the year.
Despite these rulings, progress on implementing the necessary changes to bring
such legislation into line with US WTO commitments is slow. It is also noted that
the US
has still not repealed the WTO incompatible
1916 Anti-dumping Act. The trend of US
non-compliance with WTO Dispute Settlement findings remains a priority area
of concern for the EU.
Several new developments in the course of the last year have also aroused concern
in the EU. Above all 2003 has witnessed a continuation of the US tendency to introduce
new national security measures that are more trade distorting than necessary.
The implementation of the
Bioterrorism Act, and in particular the food related provisions of this
legislation, have far reaching implications for EU agricultural exporters. There
are also new restrictions to US government procurement, for example, as a result
of the recent announcement by the
US Department of Defense that competition for
prime contracts for procurement for the reconstruction of Iraq would be restricted
to companies from the US,
Iraq, coalition partners and force contributing nations.
Fundamentally, however, the 2003 Report highlights the fact that in many areas
the US has failed to make sufficient efforts to remove long-standing barriers
to trade. Although some problems have been improved (for instance the agreement
reached on a mutually acceptable way of implementing the provisions of the US
Container Security Initiative), others remain just as troublesome as they
were in the
last Report. In addition, the US is still failing to take the necessary action
to implement its bilateral commitments fully under the
EU-US Mutual Recognition Agreement and the
EU-US Veterinary Equivalence Agreement.
Given the unrivalled
EU-US trade and investment relationship, further US efforts to tackle such
problems would be a positive development for both economies. More generally, in
addition to removing trade barriers, continued EU-US co-operation will yield significant
economic benefits through the creation of additional trade and investment opportunities.
Hence the commitment to pursue the Positive Economic Agenda adopted by both parties
in 2002.
Background
The EU and the US are each other's
main trading partners and account for the largest
bilateral trade relationship in the world. In 2001, the total amount of 2-way
investment amounted to over EUR 1.5 trillion, with each partner employing about
4 million people in the other. Total investment outflows from the EU to the US
for this same year were EUR 108 billion (46% of total EU foreign investment),
while EUR 82 billion of US investment flowed into the EU (69.3% of total US overseas
investment outflows). In 2002, exports of EU goods to the US amounted to EUR 240
billion (24.2% of total EU exports), while imports from the US amounted to EUR
176 billion (17.7%of total EU imports). Concerning trade in services, exports
of the EU amounted in 2002 (preliminary figures) to EUR 124 billion (38.3% of
total EU exports) while imports from the US amounted to EUR 111 billion (36.8%
of total EU imports).
The
Report is available on the Internet at the following address:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/issues/bilateral/countries/usa/index_en.htm
There has also been a limited print run of the Report and printed copies can be
ordered from:
Delegation of the European Commission to the United States
2300 M Street NW, Suite
300
Washington, DC
20037
|
Press Contacts:
|
Anthony Gooch
202-862-9523
|
Maeve O'Beirne
202-862-9549
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