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U.S. reveals trade hit list
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March 22, 1999: 3:31 p.m. ET
U.S. targets $900M of EU goods for 100% duties as beef rift widens
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Trade tensions between the United State and Europe escalated Monday as the U.S. announced a list of $900 million in European Union goods that could be slapped with duties of up to 100 percent.
The move, the latest in a series of trade tiffs, is in retaliation to the EU's 10-year ban on importing U.S. beef treated with growth hormones. The World Trade Organization ruled this ban violates international rules.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said Monday the list was published "because of the EU's continued refusal to not honor its obligation. We have a continued problem with European non-compliance," she said.
Exact details of the list weren't immediately available, but it consists mostly of agricultural products, many of which are meat. As a "preliminary" list, it is subject to a public review period and won't be finalized until early June, Barshefsky said. She left the door open for talks on the beef issue.
Monday's announcement comes amid rising trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU, fanned by a widening U.S. trade deficit. The U.S. has accused the EU of closing it markets to imports, most recently bananas. In a related matter, the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed a bill by a big margin that would slap import quotas on cheap imported steel.
This comes after the U.S. announced plans March 3 to impose 100 percent tariffs on a range of European imports including dairy products and knitwear, pending a final ruling from the WTO on the banana issue.
Monday's strategy of pressing ahead with sanctions is likely to provoke an angry reaction from European trade officials. After the banana-dispute sanctions were announced, EU trade Commissioner Leon Brittan denounced the U.S. as behaving like a "rogue state".
The American beef industry says it is losing $500 million in sales annually because of Europe's ban. While the WTO says the ban has no scientific merit, Europe has cited fears about possible long-term health consequences of eating hormone-treated cattle. 
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