US vows to fight import barriers

The US will aggressively pursue trading partners who break agreements by unfairly blocking imports, no matter what form those restrictions take, its top trade official said yesterday.

The US will aggressively pursue trading partners who break agreements by unfairly blocking imports, no matter what form those restrictions take, its top trade official said yesterday. Ron Kirk, the US trade representative, told an audience at a Pennsylvania steel mill that Washington would aim to stop the trend of governments using technical and hygiene rules as excuses to raise protectionist barriers and would insist they met labour standards in trade agreements. Trade lawyers and former officials warned the US was vulnerable to accusations that it too used technical standards to block imports. "Enforcement cannot be an afterthought," Mr Kirk said. "It needs to be a centrepiece of trade policy." He said that the US would broaden an approach pioneered in its enforcement of intellectual property rights, which produces regular reports on which countries are complying with rules in an attempt to shame laggards into action. Washington would resort to litigation at the World Trade Organisation if necessary, Mr Kirk said, although he added that "we will emphasise vigorous oversight, frank dialogue and negotiation as faster means of getting trade back on track". Mr Kirk said several countries had used swine flu as a reason to block US pork exports, even though experts say the disease is not transmitted through eating pork. The US has long complained that it cannot get many of its agricultural products into foreign markets, including the EU. By Alan Beattie http://www.cnbuyersagent.com/