Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 31, 1992 TAG: 9203310081
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
The release of the 267-page report was the first step in a process that could lead to retaliation against named countries if negotiations fail to correct the alleged infractions.
As in past years, the country with the most trade barriers cited was Japan, which had a total of 19 pages in the report, ranging from Japan's ban on rice imports to barriers that keep out American cars and car parts.
For the first time, the report cited several newly emerging democracies in Eastern Europe, including Poland and Hungary, as erecting barriers to American products.
In addition to the 43 nations named, the report listed two trading blocs, the 12-nation European Community and the Gulf Cooperation Council, six Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The European Community was targeted for 17 pages of complaints about its trading practices. The United States and the Europeans are locked in a bitter dispute over the reduction of farm subsidies. That battle is the major roadblock to completing a five-year effort to overhaul the world trading system.
The administration charged that the EC's farm subsidies were costing American farmers $4 billion to $5 billion in lost sales annually.
by CNB