BY MEGAN ARNEY
The Clinton administration escalated the conflict with
Washington's European rivals over the banana trade December 21,
announcing a "final list" of exports from the European Union it
is threatening to subject to a 100-percent tariff. Unless the EU
capitulates to Washington's dictates, the taxes on more than $500
million in goods could be imposed as early as February.
Leon Brittan, the EU trade commissioner from Britain, called the U.S. action "unilateralism at its worst." Washington may add pork and other agricultural products to the 16 types of goods already on the sanctions list. Paris also objected. "The behavior of the U.S. calls for a response," read a December 23 statement issued by the French foreign ministry.
The U.S. government has taken its jingoistic case to the World Trade Organization, claiming existing EU trade laws "discriminate" against U.S. distributors of bananas grown on Central American and South American plantations such as Dole and Chiquita, favoring those from former colonies of European powers in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Africa.
Reflecting U.S. ruling class nervousness over the trade conflict, the editors of the New York Times warned European rulers December 22 that "it is essential for Europe to accede.... To do otherwise would invite international anarchy on trade rules when protectionism is a greater threat than at any time in the past decade."
The banana war, as it is becoming known, is one of a growing number of trade conflicts between the imperialist powers over everything from steel to wheat. These disputes have grown nastier in recently as the prices of commodities have fallen and more industrial capitalists announced lower profits.
Most recently, Washington has threatened to challenge Tokyo over rice imports. Under pressure from competitors in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere, the Japanese government agreed to import 4 percent of the country's rice per year, gradually increasing the quota to 8 percent in about 9 years. Tokyo has now announced that imports above this quota will be allowed, but will be subject to a tariff of about $3 per kilogram. The United States is currently the largest exporter of rice to Japan, shipping 190,000 tons between April 1 and early December of 1998.