The United States will announce today whether it is to impose trade restrictions on agricultural goods from the EU in the continuing dispute over the ban on hormone-produced beef.
Yesterday, World Trade assessors estimated the ban imposed on US and Canadian hormone-produced beef by the EU in the late 1980s had cost the countries $127 million in lost trade.
The way is now open to the US and Canada to return to the World Trade Organisation and seek permission to impose sanctions on goods from the EU to this amount. There were indications yesterday that the US may play what one source described as "hardball" and impose 100 per cent levies on a list of agricultural products.
It is understood President Clinton is committed to the World Trade Organisation concept and his administration would prefer to impose sanctions than accept any compromises.
The EU has offered the US and Canada an alternative by giving trade concessions in agriculture and other areas of production.
Brussels believes trade concessions equal to the amount of damages assessed is more in keeping with the spirit of the WTO because these would increase trade rather than restrict it.
There is also the conviction that it will not allow hormone-grown beef from any part of the world into the EU because consumers do not want it, and to allow it in would weaken the EUwide ban on the use of hormones in beef production.
There was also some relief in agriculture circles in Brussels yesterday that the fine is less than half the amount the US and Canada had claimed in damages from the EU. One source said yesterday that the way was now open to the US to impose the sanctions, but even if it did, the hormone ban was most likely to remain in place.
Should the US decide to impose trade tariffs, the £5 million trade in pig-meat between Ireland and the US would be badly hit, industry sources said yesterday.
In a blacklist published by the US earlier this year outlining possible targets, pig-meat from Ireland was singled out as a possible area for tariffs.
This week the US lifted a ban imposed on pig-meat from Ireland because of the dioxin scare in Belgium.