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Brazil warns US climate bill will spark WTO action
Brazil on Friday issued a stark warning that developing nations would be hit by a pending US climate bill, threatening action at the WTO if the law passes in its current form."If the United States Congress approves the law as is, then the Brazilian government should prepare to act at the World Trade Organization," trade minister Miguel Jorge wrote in an article published in the Folha de Sao Paulo daily. Jorge said the clean energy bill would see US companies get unfair subsidies, designed to offset a dip in competitivity because of measures to curb emissions. "The subsidized sectors would compete with Brazilian firms (producing) chemical, iron and steel, cement, paper and cellulose products, among others," Jorge wrote. Steps to "introduce license purchases as a requisite to enter the North American market... will have an impact equivalent to the imposition of a tariff," he said. "Various developing countries are mobilizing" to take action at the WTO, he added. Posted by: 3dc 2009-09-12 |
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