Peter Mandelson, the European Union's trade commissioner, has urged the US to take a more conciliatory approach to trade disputes following an agreement between Europe and China to stem textiles imports. Mr Mandelson said the deal struck between the EU and China on Friday would help contain protectionist pressures in Europe and showed trade disputes could be resolved through constructive dialogue. The US has already introduced import quotas to curb a rise in Chinese textiles imports.
“The US has chosen to act first and then talk later, which might make the talking slightly more difficult because China might react in a different way,” Mr Mandelson said at the weekend. He also used the successful resolution of the textiles dispute to criticise the US for taking legal action at the World Trade Organisation over the long-runnning dispute about subsidies between Boeing and Airbus, the aircraft manufacturers. The WTO dispute settlement body meets today to consider for the first time the Airbus-Boeing complaints. “My philosophy is that when you see trade irritations arising, you should always engage in dialogue, which could have been attempted in relation to Boeing-Airbus,” he said.
