Bill keeps appetite for tariffs

By John Armstrong

Jack Sprat could eat no fat ... but Bill Clinton dutifully ate all his lamb.

Jenny Shipley joked yesterday that the President had been fed as much lamb as he could fit in during Apec lunches and state dinners.

"I've eaten it all," he replied during questions about lamb tariffs at their joint press conference in Christchurch.

"Not so much as a scrap has escaped my attention."

The "scraps" included tender Manawatu lamb loins and Canterbury lamb noisettes.

Despite all this, Mr Clinton defended his decision to impose tariffs as "appropriate" given that the recommendation from the International Trade Commission had been made under United States law.

He claimed his country was still "the champion of free trade." During last year's Asian crisis, the United States had kept its markets open at the price of the largest trade deficit in its history.

New Zealand had a perfect right to appeal against his decision to the World Trade Organisation.

"If I was in your position, that's exactly what I'd do."

Mr Clinton said he would study the "very interesting idea" of a free-trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and the United States.