Trade war would hurt ‘only N.Z.’

Press, 27 November 1982, Page 1

Trade war would hurt ‘only N.Z.’

NZPA Geneva New Zealand would be the victim and the Soviet Union would be the beneficiary in a trade war if General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (G.A.T.T.) Ministers failed to agree on agricultural protectionism, said the Minister of Overseas Trade, Mr Cooper, in Geneva last evening. “This is something the E.E.C. should not under-esti-mate,” he said. Mr Cooper told NZPA that he had made New Zealand’s position clear in informal talks with E.E.C. and United States representatives. . Warning that a trade war could begin if the gap between United States and E.E:C. positions on farm subsidies was not bridged, Mr Cooper said he did not think that that would hurt the people of Britain, France, and Germany. Nor would it hurt Americans.

“But it would have a disastrous effect on all New Zealanders,” he said. With still no sign of any change of position on the subsidies issue as G.A.T.T. Ministers go into the final stages of their meeting, agreement on the controversial issue appeared last evening to be as remote as ever. The United States wants a phased reduction of export subsidies, which would lead to their ultimate elimination. But a senior E.E.C. official. Sir Roy Denman, told a press briefing, “This is unacceptable.” The E.E.C. stood by its commitments made in the Tokyo round of negotiations for trade liberalisation, he said. They recognised that agricultural export subsidies were a fact of life, but it was agreed that they should not be used to achieve more than an equitable share of world

trade. “We have told the Americans we are not prepared to go any further,” said Sir Roy. While the Americans and Europeans continued their stand-off on farm subsidies, Mr Cooper strongly rejected an accusation by the British Minister of Trade, Mr Peter Rees, that some Ministers at the talks were putting too much emphasis on agriculture. New Zealand had joined G.A.T.T. in 1947 with the expectation that agriculture would come within its procedures, said Mr Cooper. “In 1982, it is illogical to suggest that agriculture, which is being threatened by subsidisation of agricultural exports by the major economies, should not become part of a move towards trade liberalisation,” he said. New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and other

countries had made agriculture the first priority in the Geneva discussions, said Mr Cooper. Mr Rees, who leads the British delegation, devoted only 60 words to agriculture in his speech at yesterday’s session. “I will leave to others to debate the question of agriculture which in every country is always a special case," he told delegates. • Some delegates had tried to point the finger at the E.E.C., but the Community was sensitive to the mood of the conference and, at the end of the day, might not be outside the mainstream of opinion, said Mr Rees. “I hope it will be recognised. that the European Community is playing a constructive role on a whole range of issues,” he said. United States comment, page 2