RI to stay on USTR 'watch list'<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Reuter): The United States has decided not to
\ntarget any countries for possible trade sanctions over copyright
\nviolations or discrimination in government contracting, U.S.
\nTrade Representative Mickey Kantor said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
In an annual report to Congress required by U.S. trade laws,
\nKantor said considerable progress had been made in the past year
\non protecting copyrights, patents and trademarks and that foreign
\ngovernments also had made progress in cleaning up procurement
\npractices that shut out overseas competitors.<\/p>\n
The decision means President Bill Clinton's administration
\nwill take a less confrontational approach with those countries
\nwhose copyright protection laws and government purchasing
\npractices bother U.S. firms trying to do business with them.<\/p>\n
The other countries on the priority list, which is one step
\naway from a full-fledged sanctions investigation, are Brazil,
\nGreece, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Korea and India.<\/p>\n
But China was downgraded to basic "watch list" status after
\nWashington and Beijing signed a copyright protection agreement in
\nFebruary, narrowly avoiding U.S. sanctions on a billion dollars'
\nworth of Chinese goods.<\/p>\n
The USTR suggested that several other countries also escaped a
\nworse fate by last-minute agreement to improve their record on
\ncopyright, citing Bulgaria, Singapore, Indonesia and Turkey.<\/p>\n
But Indonesia and 23 other countries will remain in the watch
\nlist, Kantor said.<\/p>\n
Of the eight priority watch list countries listed for
\ncopyright concern, four are targeted for special review: Greece
\nand Saudi Arabia by October, and Turkey and Japan by mid-
\nDecember.<\/p>\n
Kantor said, however, that several countries will be targeted
\nfor special attention to ensure progress on the two trade fronts.<\/p>\n
Although he cited wide advances in opening up the bidding
\nprocess on government contracts, he said he was concerned Germany
\nwas not giving U.S. firms a fair chance.<\/p>\n
General Electric is locked in dispute with Germany over a
\npower plant project in Lippendorf. GE says it was shut out of the
\nbidding despite a 1993 agreement between the United States and
\nGermany to open up the procurement process.<\/p>\n
Kantor's report said Washington would also watch Japan closely
\nto see how it complies with government procurement agreements
\nbetween the two countries.<\/p>\n
He would not rule out taking future action against violators.<\/p>\n
"In the coming months I will not hesitate to designate as a
\npriority foreign country any country where such a designation is
\nwarranted," Kantor said in a statement.<\/p>\n
In addition to the five countries coming under special review
\nfor copyright violations, the European Union, India and Korea
\nwere put on the agency's "priority watch list".<\/p>\n
On government purchasing and contracting, Kantor said a high
\npriority for the United States is increasing public awareness of
\npractices and reducing corruption.<\/p>\n
He said the administration was determined to "push initiatives
\nto clean up government procurement practices around the world."<\/p>\n
Many of the complaints by U.S. firms about the trade practices
\nof several countries have been resolved quietly through
\nnegotiation, said one U.S. official.<\/p>\n
Last year, the U.S. trade representative (USTR) cited China
\nfor intellectual property violations. The decision prompted
\nnegotiations that led to a historic agreement between Washington
\nand Beijing earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The deal was hard fought, however, coming just as the two
\ncountries were on the brink of a trade war that could have
\nimposed billions of dollars of punitive tariffs on each others'
\nimported goods.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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