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U.S. warned in banana war
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November 11, 1998: 8:03 a.m. ET
E.C. president Santer writes to Clinton with threats of his own
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LONDON (CNNfn) - The banana war between Europe and the United States intensified Wednesday, after European Commission President Jacques Santer wrote to U.S. President Bill Clinton with threats of his own.
Santer warned the EU will launch a World Trade Organization case against the U.S. if the U.S. doesn't drop its threat of sanctions.
The U.S. proposed sanctions against the EU Tuesday in retaliation against what it says is an "unlawful" banana import policy.
The U.S. singled out European exporters of cheese, wine and women's suits.
But in a letter sent Tuesday evening, Santer appealed to Clinton to give his urgent personal attention to the implications of proposed sanctions.
Santer said unilateral sanctions would be a clear breach of U.S. commitments to the World Trade Organization and would seriously damage EU-U.S. cooperation.
If the United States goes ahead with sanctions, Santer said the EU would take "early action" to start dispute settlement proceedings in the WTO, according to an EU statement.
"The consequence of the U.S. pursuing its unilateral action against the EU would be serious damage to the entire multilateral WTO system as well as to the agenda for positive EU-U.S. cooperation," the EU said.
The U.S. Trade Representative's Office has said sanctions will take effect on February 1 unless Europe settles the long-standing banana dispute.
Under Europe's current import laws, banana growers in the former African, Caribbean and Pacific colonies of France and the United Kingdom are given easier access to the EU market, the world's largest for bananas.
The World Trade Organization, acting on complaints from the United States and a group of Latin American countries, ruled last year that the EU rules violate international trade laws.
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