Source: Wire. Date: 28 Nov 90. Story Type: News. Original
Language: English. Dateline: Jakarta. Byline: None. Text: Full.
Brief Remark: Emphasis on "tries."
INDONESIA TRIES TO MEDIATE IN U.S.-EEC TRADE DISPUTE
Indonesia is mediating in the dispute between the United States
and the European Economic Community (EEC) in a bid to assure
success for the Uruguay Round of trade talks, Indonesian Trade
Minister Arifin Siregar said Wednesday.
"As leader of the Indonesian delegation, we try to mediate in
the problem faced by the United States and the Cairns group on one
side and the EEC on the other, so that they can do their best to
turn the Uruguay negotiations into a success," Mr. Siregar said
after meeting Indonesian President Suharto.
He said Indonesia had been trying to persuade member countries
to take part in the next round of negotiations on the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Brussels early in
December.
Washington and the Cairns group, which also includes Indonesia,
have threatened to boycott the Brussels ministerial meeting should
no significant compromise be offered by the EEC on the issue of
farm subsidies before that.
The United States has demanded that the EEC slash its farm
subsidies by 75 percent while the Community has only been willing
to reduce them by 30 percent.
But he said he believed it was unlikely the EEC would be able
to make significant concessions because of current political
events in Europe. He pointed to the upcoming German elections and
said farmers there represented a large and influential vote.