Recent talks have centred around how North American beef entering the EU should be labelled in order to ensure consumers have enough information to make an informed choice. Hormones are widely used in US agriculture, but the EU says it is still studying the scientific evidence on their safety. EU Ambassador Roderick Abbott told the meeting that the Europeans had wasted no time in beginning a risk analysis, but conceded the work might not be complete by the May deadline. Former Tory trade minister Lord Young warned the Institute of Directors on Wednesday that a 'crisis' was brewing the US-EU trade relations. We might see this as a health risk but Washington will see this as a pure protection.
Trade wars escalate The trade wars between the United States and Europe have been escalating.
Last month the US introduced sanctions against a range of European products in order to force the EU to agree to import more 'dollar bananas' from Central America. There are also flashpoints over aircraft noise, with the EU threatening to ban US aircraft engines fitted with hush-kits from European skies. Although the EU and the United States are each other's biggest trading partners, the growing imbalance in world trade is leading to tensions. The US is running a huge trade deficit with the rest of the world, and has said that it cannot continue to bear all the costs of the world's economic slowdown.