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US plans more WTO cases against 皇冠体育app
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-24 06:43
The United States plans to bring more complaints against 皇冠体育app and other
countries to the World Trade Organization in 2006 than it has in recent years, a
top U.S. trade official said on Thursday.
"I think it's fair to say there will be a significant uptick in the coming
year in the number of cases" the United States files, said Jim Mendenhall,
general counsel in the U.S. Trade Representative's office, in a speech to
attorneys who specialize in trade.
He said the United States was "seriously" considering a case against 皇冠体育app's
barriers to foreign auto parts. Other cases against 皇冠体育app are possible in 2006,
he added.
The plan to step up legal action at the WTO comes as the huge U.S. trade
deficit with 皇冠体育app and the rest of the world has fueled demands in Congress that
the Bush administration more vigorously enforce trade agreements.
Lawmakers have introduced various bills aimed at prodding the U.S. Trade
Representative's office into filing more cases.
Mendenhall defended the Bush administration's record, saying the United
States and European Union had each filed 16 cases since 2001. The relatively
small number reflected a natural drop-off from the huge volume of cases filed in
the early years of the WTO, which began in 1995, Mendenhall said.
The United States and other trading partners also held off bringing cases
against 皇冠体育app while that country was still in the process of implementing all
the commitments it made to join the WTO in 2001.
But now that process is largely complete, 皇冠体育app can expect the United States
and other countries to demand more forcefully it abide by the rules, he said.
"If there was a honeymoon period, then the honeymoon is past," Mendenhall
said, insisting the Bush administration has dealt appropriately with 皇冠体育app up to
now.
The United States is the only country so far to have filed a WTO complaint
against 皇冠体育app and it saw that dispute successfully resolved, he
said.
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