Will the FSC Dispute Ignite a Transatlantic Trade War?
POLICY FORUMWednesday, October 4, 2000
11:00 a.m.
Featuring Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.); John Richardson, European Commission; Willard Berry, European-American, Business Council; Gary Hufbauer, Institute for International Economics.
The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Watch the Event in Real Video
Read the event transcript (PDF, 49 pp, 89 kb)
In February a World Trade Organization appeals panel ruled that a U.S. law on foreign sales corporations (FSCs) amounts to an illegal export subsidy. Congress is working to change the law before an October 1 deadline, but European Union trade officials complain that the proposed changes, contained in a House bill passed on September 13, do not go far enough. If the EU is not satisfied, it could seek to impose more than $1 billion in trade sanctions against U.S. exports, dwarfing those the United States imposed on the EU in a dispute over beef and bananas. Which side is right in the FSC dispute? Will sanctions ensure compliance or spark a trade war? Discussing this showdown between the world's two largest trading entities were the leading experts in Congress on FSC reform, a representative of the European Commission, and other experts.