June 16

U.S. attacks Mexican Beef and Rice Protection at WTO

The Bush administration has asked the World Trade Organization to
strike down Mexico's protection beef and rice producers,

"We are working to ensure that Mexico doesn't use foreign
trade remedy laws as unfair barriers to U.S. products," said
US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick in a statement.

The Mexican government has previously determined that U.S. producers
have been selling their rice and beef cheaper to Mexico than they do
in the U.S., a practice called "dumping".

As a protection against US dumping, Mexico imposed anti-dumping
tariffs on U.S. beef in April 2000, and on U.S. white long grain rice
in June 2002.

Anti-dumping duties are permitted protection measures under WTO rules,
a fact USA does yet not deny.

However, the Bush administration has apparently now made its own
calculation of the damage caused by US dumping in Mexico and found it
to be smaller than claimed by Mexico. The U.S. claims to the WTO,
that the method Mexico used to reach its findings was flawed and the
imposed anti-dumping duties therefore violates WTO rules.

Under WTO rules, the U.S. and Mexico now have 60 days to attempt to
negotiate the matter between them before a dispute panel would be
formed -- iow, the Mexican government now has 60 days to cooperate
fully and unconditionally with the Bush administration to remove
the anti-dumping duties.

The combined US export market value for beef and rice was
about $0.9 billion in 2002.