Leon Brittan News

Europe has reportedly threatened to file a WTO complaint against the U.S. over fees on cargo ships at U.S. ports, further increasing tensions. A letter from European Commission vice president Leon Brittan is reported to say that harbor fees proposed by the U.S. constituted an unfair tax on European shipping lines, container vessels and their cargoes. If a settlement is not reached by Jan. 1, 2000, Brittan said the commission was likely to ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) to take action. The 134-member organization oversees global trading rules.

In an apparent flexing of newfound muscles, the European Union is picking another trade fight with the United States, threatening to file a World Trade Organization complaint against the U.S. over fees on cargo ships at U.S. ports, increasing tensions between the two trading giants. In a letter released last Tuesday, European Commission vice president Leon Brittan said harbor fees proposed by the Clinton administration, like those they would replace, constituted an unfair tax on European shipping lines, container vessels and their cargoes. "This discriminatory application of a fee that is not justified in the first place simply cannot continue," Brittan told U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky. If a settlement is not reached by Jan.