US and EU move to boost trade ties

WASHINGTON - The United States and the European Union are responding to increased global competition, particularly from China, by boosting economic ties and cracking down on the growing trade in fake goods.

"There is a clear sense of urgency on both sides that something must be done," European Commission vice-president Gunter Verheugen said yesterday.

"My feeling was that both sides recognise that a new dimension of globalisation is coming - China not being the only example."

Verheugen was commenting after a White House meeting between US President George W. Bush, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the rotating European Council.

The US and the EU agreed on steps aimed at expanding what is already, at about US$1 trillion ($1.41 trillion) annually, the world's largest trade and investment relationship, they said.

These measures include the creation of a high-level forum to streamline regulations in areas ranging from product safety to financial services and capital markets.

US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said: "There are regulations on both sides that are duplicative in nature. We are testing products in multiple countries when we don't have to.

"What we'll do at the next step is pick out priorities where we can start addressing that and start showing results."

The transatlantic trading partners also said they would work together to reduce product piracy in China and elsewhere around the world, which costs US and European companies billions of dollars in lost sales each year.

There was no decision on whether to bring a joint World Trade Organisation case against China for failing to enforce its anti-piracy laws.

US and EU leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to reaching an "ambitious" world trade agreement by the end of 2006.

- REUTERS