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US security measures threatening free trade, WTO warns

AFP, GENEVA
Sunday, Jan 18, 2004, Page 12

The US must avoid erecting new obstacles to trade and investment in a series of steps it has taken to prevent possible terrorist attacks, the WTO said Friday.

But Linnet Deily, Washington's ambassador to the WTO, tried to dispel such fears, insisting that US President George W. Bush would work with his trading partners to "ensure this does not happen."

In a report on the development of US trade policy over the past two years, the WTO also warned that barriers to market access in the world's largest economy still exist, especially in the areas of farming, steel and textiles.

Many of the global trade body's 146 members have voiced concern about new security laws passed in the US that make it harder and more expensive to import goods, according to officials and the countries involved.

"There was understanding as to why the Americans are doing this in the context of Sept. 11, but members asked the US to be careful that those measures do not harm trade," explained Clem Boonekamp, director of the WTO's trade policy review body, who supervised the compilation of the report.

The US, for example, launched an anti-terrorism initiative at ports worldwide following the September 2001 attacks to pre-screen US-bound cargo containers by deploying its customs officers at foreign harbors.

"Some members worry about the cost of this surveillance mechanism," Boonekamp told a news conference at WTO headquarters in Geneva.

"They want the US to know that they are worried about it and about the costs related to those measures," he said.

The WTO report found: "It is important that the new US security-related policies and practices do not become unnecessary trade or investment barriers."

Speaking during the course of the US trade review earlier this week, the EU's ambassador to the WTO, Carlo Trojan, said the 15-nation bloc recognized the need to prevent potential attacks.

"But we also trust that the US will continue to ensure that security concerns are not used as an excuse for implementing a disguised form of protectionism," Trojan said.

Responding to the remarks, Deily assured a meeting in Geneva of WTO member states that there was no need to worry.

"I can confirm that President Bush and [Homeland Security Secretary Tom] Ridge are sensitive to the issue and fully understand the need to work closely with the international community to ensure this does not happen," she said.

US customs and border protection authorities were in contact with the international trade community to ensure potential problems created by the new security legislation were addressed before they lead to delays, she explained.

"We are committed to ensuring both the security and facility of the international trade supply chain," Deily said.

In addition, the WTO report noted that the US economy continued to rebound after overcoming several shocks since its last trade review in 2001, but voiced concern about Washington's gaping trade and budget deficits.

"Recent US macroeconomic policy has been directed, increasingly successfully, towards recovering and sustaining growth, with benefits to the global economy including through trade transmission," the WTO said.

The trade policies of the WTO's 146 members are regularly reviewed under the mandate of the global trade body.
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