DUTCH OFFICIAL WARNS OF MORE TRADE CONFLICTS

  Already strained relations between
  the U.S. And the European Community (EC) are likely to get
  worse before they get better, director general of the Dutch
  Economics Ministry's foreign affairs division Frans Engering
  said.
      Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce lunch in The
  Hague, Engering noted the developing history of crises over
  steel, citrus and pasta, and warned of more to come.
      "I consider the strident tone of US declarations on Airbus
  ill-advised, and the EC fats and oils tax proposal a dangerous
  provocation," he said. "I feel that we shall probably have to
  deal with quite a few more crises in the foreseeable future."
      Not only is the US Congress clearly very determined to get
  the American balance of payments into better shape, but the
  risks of brinkmanship are all the greater because the EC has
  its own constraints in meeting outside pressure, Engering
  noted.
      "If we ask ourselves whether it is perhaps inevitable that
  we keep pushing each other to the brink of actual trade war,
  then I think the answer is probably yes," he said.
      In order to reduce these tensions, decision-making in the
  EC must become less self-centred, and the US Administration
  will have to exercise the authority to convince Congress and
  pressure groups of the need for accommodation, he added.
  

