"TONE
DOWN THE TRANSATLANTIC ABUSE FOR THE GOOD OF ALL"
Maria
Livanos Cattaui
Paris
March 1, 2003
The proprietor of a French restaurant in New York gloomily surveyed
empty tables the other night and complained to his TV interviewer
that the boycott had forced him to lay off most of his - American
- waiters.
They were the unintended victims of the anti-French mania that has
turned French fries into Freedom fries and prompted an innkeeper in
New Jersey to pour half a dozen bottles of Dom Perignon down the drain.
Not serious, perhaps. A temporary aberration - certainly. But there
is a moral in the plight of those waiters who are not even French
that should give all of us pause as war in Iraq stares us in the face.
The moral is clear. Don't generalize about national characteristics,
and don't shun the products of another country for political, economic
or ideological reasons. You can never know who will be the victim,
and it might ultimately be you.
Evian water is undoubtedly French - but in the US it is distributed
by Coca Cola. The only valid reason for not buying Camembert cheese
is if you do not like the taste.
There are far too many transatlantic exchanges of abuse now for the
good of all of us. Even if US politicians say that the diplomatic
estrangement between Washington and Paris will not lead to a trade
embargo, the expressions of hostility are worrying - and are certainly
not in the interest of businesses on either side of the pond and those
who work for them.
Military planners never know exactly what lies ahead, and they have
to be ready for every contingency. We do not know how long a war will
last and whether we can count on it all being over swiftly with few
casualties. And we do not know what the political repercussions will
be in the Middle East.
All these things are beyond the absolute control of our governments.
But there is one outcome of the present crisis that is within their
control: they can resolve not to allow the current mess to poison
their commercial relations and to send them scuttling into the bunker
of protectionism.
That the relationship between the United States and Europe is essential
to world stability is something leaders on both sides must accept,
acknowledging that this is especially true of the economic ties that
bind Europeans and Americans ever more closely.
There
is an agenda on the trade front to be met whose completion will be
as fateful for every nation as whatever happens in Iraq. That agenda
is known as the Doha Round of negotiations on freeing up the world's
trade. The outcome will profoundly influence the world economy.
Progress is looking problematic at present. A key deadline at the
end of March for establishing guidelines for liberalization of agricultural
trade could well be missed unless negotiators at the World Trade Organization
in Geneva make a superhuman effort - and the governments behind them
are willing to make the necessary compromises.
Somehow, there has to be a meeting of minds between those who want
to protect their domestic farm industries, such as Japan and the European
Union, and the supporters of agricultural free trade, notably Australia
and other members of the Cairns Group.
Agriculture is the make-or-break issue for the developing countries
who form an overwhelming majority in the WTO. They see that it as
the key to their hopes of future prosperity. The implications for
long-term global stability are enormous and will remain so long after
Saddam Hussein becomes history.
Underlying the wrangling in the WTO is the struggle to build a multilateral
world trading system in which all must make concessions in the interest
of a larger good - whose rewards will outweigh any narrow disadvantages.
Sounds lofty and remote - but those New York waiters would understand.
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Maria Livanos Cattaui is Secretary General of the International Chamber
of Commerce
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