Английский язык для экономистов - Малюга Е.Н.
ISBN 5-469-00341-8
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Possible Solutions
To avoid sanctions, the US would have to either:
¦ change the current tax legislation;
¦ compensate the EU by slashing tariffs or take other actions to enable the EU to export more to the US; 256
Английский ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ экономистов
¦ persuade the EU to delay imposing sanctions and deal with the issue as a part of the next round of WTO trade talks which are due to start this year, and are expected to last until 2005.
The first option is unlikely: The US would be hard-pressed to push through a new tax reform legislation package in time, given that the arbitration panel's final decision is due around Easter.
And with the US recession still showing no sign of easing, the US is increasing its tariff barriers on many products, such as steel, rather than cutting them.
Instead, the US may threaten counter-retaliation.
Different Tax Breaks
The EU may be amenable to some form of compromise, however, since the US is expected to argue that Europe also uses export tax breaks, and that its wrhole corporate tax structure is unfair to US companies.
Indeed, the WTO panel did itself query whether some EU tax regimes comply with its rules.
Also, the EU has lost; other trade disputes with the US recently and could use this latest one to regain lost ground in other areas.
Although the two trade blocs reached agreement on a long-running dispute over imports of bananas from the Caribbean, there are still conflicts over the import of US hormone-treated beef and genetically-modified foods.
Long-Running Conflict
The current conflict arose in 1997 when the EU began objecting to US tax breaks for exporters.
The tax breaks put the exporters at an advantage when competing with European firms, the EU argued.
The WTO agreed in four rulings, but the US appealed on each occasion, while at the same time moving part of the way towards compliance by extending the tax breaks to foreign companies based in the US.
The EU dismissed this as "window dressing," and said the new tax regimes introduced were as bad as the old ones.
In the end, in November 2000, the EU asked the WTO for permission to retaliate.
G.3. Comprehension.
Read the article again more attentively and answer the questions.
¦ Why has the United States suffered?
¦ What has the WTO found?
¦ Why has the WTO paved the way for the Eropean Union? Unit 14. International Trade
257
¦ Why did R. Zoellick call the transatlantic trade disputes "an uphill struggle"?
¦ Do you agree with the author's opinion that uanv trade war is likely to hit the economies of both sides"?
¦ What is a WTO arbitration panel? What for is it necessary?
¦ What is the reason of increasing the tariff barriers on many products by the US?
¦ Do you think that the EU may be amenable to some forms of compromise?
G.4. Find a word or a phrase in the article with a meaning similar to each of the following.
¦ ready to be guided or influenced by;
¦ formal or official permission, approval or acceptance;
¦ a reduction in taxes that can be had by taking advantage of government rules that may change from time to time;
¦ to accept or admit (as); recognise the fact or existence;
¦ to get or win back;
¦ to try to win something in competition with someone else;
¦ the process by which two sides try to reach agreement with each other, eg. about prices, the details of a contract, etc.;
¦ to find a satisfactory way of dealing with (a difficulty); settle.
G.5. Render the article after making up your own outline.
H. Reading the Russian article
H.l. Read the Russian article, find key sentences and translate them into English.
Россия втягивается в торговую войну с Европой
Денис Прокопенко, «Политэкономия»
Выбор первой цели для «симметричного удара» может оказаться ошибочным.
Металлургическая продукция является товаром, из-за которого Россия в последнее время оказывается втянутой или сама инициирует торговые войны с другими странами. Ничего удивительного в этом нет: ведь металлы — вторая после нефти статья экспортных доходов нашей страны.
С нефтью проблем нет — развитые страны крайне нуждаются в этом сырье и поэтому только рады, если поставки «черного золота» увели- 258
Английский ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ экономистов
чиваются. Цена-то в этом случае снижается. С поставками российской стали проблем гораздо больше. Дело в том, что западные правительства заботятся прежде всего о защите своей металлургической отрасли. Поток дешевой и качественной российской стали на рынки развитых стран приводит к сокращению производства в тех же американских и европейских компаниях.
Поэтому увеличение поставок российской нефти только приветствуется, так как способствует снятию энергетического кризиса в развитых странах, а поставки российской стали вызывают антидемпинговые расследования и ограничения в доступе на мировые рынки. Все это привело к тому, что из-за разного рода ограничений на внешних рынках Россия, по данным премьер-министра Михаила Касьянова, уже потеряла около 2,5 млрд долл.
