Moves by the Bush administration to place U.S. customs officials in ports across Europe have met with some objections from the European Commission.

Last month Washington reached agreements with the governments of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands to have U.S. inspectors start operating at the ports of Le Havre, Rotterdam, and Antwerp. The U.S. administration says the customs officials will inspect cargo on all ships bound for the United States, and that the three ports are the first of 20 in which it seeks to place its agents.

EU officials told Washington that the inspections would seriously disrupt trade flows and add to the European exporters’ costs. The EU emphasized it supports the efforts to tighten security, but that the U.S. agreements with only some ports puts them at an advantage over others in violation of EU rules.

One U.S. customs official said the EU Commission was "very unhappy" that Washington was dealing separately with member countries. "They call it the ‘divide and conquer Yankee approach,’" he said. "We just see it a different way."

U.S. customs commissioner Robert Bonner claimed that "it has nothing to do with trade rules or competitive advantage."  
 
 
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