Danone under fire from US sanctions?

Do the Americans really want the French? It is to be wondered. The US trade representative, the trade administration in charge of this file, could indeed, soon, put new products on the index, in particular those produced by French agri-food groups such as mineral water. Certainly " not before the G8 summit", taking place this weekend in Japan, said a diplomat.

But one fact is certain. The Americans no longer support the "protectionist" positions of the Europeans aimed, on the one hand, at favoring bananas from Martinique, Guadeloupe and Africa over those from America, and, on the other hand, at limiting the import of meat with hormones made in the USA, and are determined to hit where it hurts. Since April and September 1999, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has thus authorized the United States to take retaliatory measures to the tune of 308 million dollars. Sanctions that take the form of a 100% customs increase. A deterrent amount, in other words!

D’autant que, raffinement suprême, les Américains peuvent modifier régulièrement, tous les six mois, la liste des produits concernés. La viande bovine, le roquefort, les tomates les jus de fruits et les cafetières électriques frappés d’un tel relèvement de taux pourraient ainsi être rejoints bientôt par les eaux minérales, les pêches, les biscuits et autres gaufrettes. Chez Danone, un des groupes agro-alimentaires les plus visés, on préférait hier ne pas commenter ce procédé, poétiquement désigné par les experts, « Carrousel »…

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Published in France-Soir, July 2000