June 1, 2002	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19,1423

BRUSSELS, May 31: The European Union said on Friday it may be willing to grant a short delay before applying retaliatory sanctions against US steel tariffs, to allow extra time to resolve the bitter transatlantic dispute.

A European Commission statement said the 15 EU member states gave unanimous backing to a proposal to adopt by June 18 a list of US goods liable to countervailing duties, but Brussels could hold fire briefly to leave time for a satisfactory deal.

“It was agreed that, in the interests of the EU, we might be willing to envisage a limited delay in their actual application if this would contribute towards the early and successful resolution of this matter,” Commission spokesman Anthony Gooch said in the statement.

He said a satisfactory package would have to include both exemptions for some EU steel products from the tariffs imposed by President George W. Bush in March, and compensation in the form of lower US duties on other goods. Washington has so far refused publicly to consider compensation.

US LOOKS SET TO DEFEND: Under intense pressure over its controversial protectionist steel tariffs, the US seemed determined on Friday to fight action taken against it by its trading partner, the EU.

Marking a new chapter in the international row over steel, the United States has asked for World Trade Organization consultations with the 15-nation bloc over Brussels’ own provisional tariffs on imported steel.

The EU adopted tariffs on 15 steel product categories on March 28, in a bid to protect EU markets from an influx of steel exports diverted from the US after Washington imposed its own tariffs.

Countries in Latin America, Asia as well as Europe have lined up to condemn the three-year US tariffs of between eight and 30 per cent, introduced on March 20.

Washington notified the Geneva-based WTO on Thursday that it was seeking talks with the EU, the WTO said.

“Consultations are only the first stage in the dispute settlement process and if the US-EC do not reach an agreement, we will have the right to request a dispute settlement panel,” a US official said on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“But we hope that we can resolve these differences in an early stage during the consultation process,” the official added.

The official pointed out that US tariffs were imposed after a six-month inquiry by the International Trade Commission, “an independent agency that conducted hearings that gave the opportunity to all interested parties to present their views”.

“The US administration spent three months evaluating the findings of the ITC before proceeding with safeguards,” an official said—Reuters/AFP