Eh, if only economics were so simple.

How true that Statement is

People need to ask why trade tariff are being imposed. Trade tariffs do indeed hurt everyone, but not as much as allowing subsidised goods into your country. Home maufacturers cannot compete against companies which are part funded by foreign governments and will end up going bust creating millions of extra unemployed people.

If the US won't accept this then why should any other country? American companies exporting abroard get unfair (as ruled upon by the WTO) tax benefits which makes them hyper competitive against other countries. After 4 years of waiting the EU has finally said enough's enough and imposed 5% of the authorised sanctions. They are slowly imposing the sanctions in the hope that the US will finally abide by international law and remove it's illegal trade subsidies. If the US does not then 100% of tariffs will end up in place and a trade war will begin.

Paul.

I think America should look to it's own back yard and the tarrifs that the WTO actually ruled against before slinging mud over the water.

I think it would be political suicide if an American president decided to impose 100% sanctions on trade. If the citizens of the EU think that their government should dictate what products they can/ cant purchase then that is their prerogative.

I agree totally Solitair, however not all countries subsidis their Exporters in fact many like the country I live in (Australia) do not give any reoief other than development funds to new start up businesses, which is not handed out that easily, Niether tarriffs or Subsidies are the answer or serve the long term good, Europe has been imposing Tarriffs since the inception of the EU, now that we have the WTO, to make use of this would only help to serve its legitimacy and bring about a mindset of resolution through this forum instead of the current tit for tat that we see today between the EU and the US.
It is sad to think that countries such as India are striving to meet guidelines imposed on them by the WTO which would benefit the two Eu & US, while both of them work outside the same forum.

We must remember we are discussing the EU. This is a place that believes that genetically modified food is more of a threat to public safety than totalitarian regimes with nuclear capability or ambition. Just recently the world has learned that the EU live in fear of the despot Ariel Sharon as well.

Despite all the hoopla in the media about the Eu and the percieved or otherwise threat in Israel, I strongly doubt that they live in fear of Israel. Of course being stuck out in the Pacific on this Not so insignificent chunk of land I could have missed something. As for GM products well that's another subject, which I am not even going to discuss, as I have to get dinner. Bye.

I totally agree that the EU needs to remove it trade tariffs as well. It is slowly doing so and a number of WTO rulings (such as the banana dispute) have forces it to speed up this process. It's farmer subsidies are a complete disgrace and I only vote for politicans who agree with me on this.

As for EU fears, they do fear GM foods. There are plenty of reasons why they should. Without proper control the results could be a catastrophy (just look at some of the research which has been done on this issue). With proper control GM foods should be a huge benefit to society. Who dictates control though? The governments! EU people do not trust their governments! Hence the problems.

As for Israel, EU citizens don't fear Israel. That's a complete fabrication. They do however believe that the Israeli situation is the largest threat to world peace. Big difference and has been discussed in many other threads.

Paul.