WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it has begun legal action at the World Trade Organization to overturn anti-dumping duties imposed by Mexico on U.S. beef and rice imports worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
"It is unfortunate that we could not resolve these matters bilaterally," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said in a statement decrying the duties imposed by Mexico as a violation of WTO rules.
Filing a case at the WTO begins a required 60-day consultation period before a dispute settlement panel can be created to look at the matter.
The filing comes as the U.S. beef industry fears possible new, more serious import restrictions on American beef by Mexico.
Chandler Keys, a vice president at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said the Bush administration's action this week could be a way of bringing Mexico into "rapid consultations." That, he added, could help resolve the antidumping duty, which he acknowledged has not stood in the way of vibrant U.S. exports to Mexico.
"You've got to go after all the little stuff. The little stuff creates a corrosive atmosphere," Keys said, referring to a range of U.S.-Mexican disputes over agricultural trade.
Filing the WTO case, he added, is "another bit of pressure to make them (Mexico) focus on it and ... get this underbrush cleared out."
Agricultural trade tensions between the United States and Mexico have intensified this year, as most remaining tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement were lifted.
"By filing a WTO case today, we are working to ensure that Mexico doesn't use foreign trade remedy laws as unfair barriers to U.S. products," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said. "American ranchers and rice farmers expect to have fair market access for their products in Mexico."
The United States exported $829 million of beef products and $103 million of rice to Mexico in 2002.
In its complaint, Washington accused Mexico of violating various WTO rules and procedures, as well as its own laws, in calculating and imposing the duties.
"We have been patient and now must ensure that the trade agreements are fully enforced," Veneman said. "Our farmers expect that 'a deal is a deal' and must be lived up to."
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