It is arguable if ww2 would have been won without US help.
The USSR had already turned the tide in the east.
It would have taken a lot longer and the results would have not been in the interests of either the UK or USA.

This debate has been on the board many times and it is silly and divisive which ever side starts it.

The topic is about sanctions.
The USA and the EU are the 2 biggest trading blocks.This threat of sanctions is not unusual.Remember Bananas and Steel.
It should not be dismissed though.The Americans won't see it in that context and it will reinforce their persecution complex.

Also it would be silly to mistake Europes military power with their Economic power.A trade war would cause recession in both countries and it is uncertain that the USA would recover quicker than the EU.I believe that the US economy,at present,is in a far more precarious position than the EU's and far more precarious than most of her citizens realise.

[Edited on 19-5-2003 by John bull 1]

I think you are all missing a trick here. This is not the first time that the EU has "imposed" sanctions on the US and will not be the last. This also works the other way round as well as the US has done this to the EU.

I think many of you have chosen to ignore that the US is not complying with WTO rules as others do. $4.04 billionis the amount set by the WTO for such disputes. When talking about trading blocks the size of the US and europe such amounts of money area tiny fraction of the wealth and means relatively little difference in term of the local economy.

"Is this sanction threat a power struggle between the US and Europe?"

Well hi again leveller! Im sorry but you are wrong. These things happen, have happened, will happen again. Its a simple case of both sides corporations trying to get away with more than they should and the other side pulling them up on it.

You should know that this is all under the aegis of the WTO and to say it is a power struggle is pure nonsense. Unlike making war on a sovereign nation this is an internationally recognised, monitored and accepted way of settling trade disputes.

And I until I stopped working I was a Banker (no jokes) so if anyone wants to tell me I don`t understand please do so but consider I have a professional knowledge and spent many years living and breathing this kind of affair.

" I am in fact extremely well educated and do represent the majority of british peoples opinion."

Well I`m not saying you are n`t educated, you seem quite eloquent enough to put the lie to that but you do not represent the majority view! However you don`t seem to be the only one on either side of the Atlantic being silly so can`t say I blame you for getting wound up.....

quote]Originally posted by cassini
" I am in fact extremely well educated and do represent the majority of british peoples opinion."



LOL. I got worried for a second there when I thought you attributed that quote to me. I'm not educated!!!


But you say this isn't a power struggle Cassini?
I recognise that their is a formal structure that businesses and countries adhere to in situations like this one, just like you say. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a power struggle going on. The EU and the US are fighting over money in that system.
I'm a cynic. I believe that money is the root of all evil just like in the old saying. I believe though, that we have nothing better to use in our economies at the moment but I yearn for a day when we find some alternate way of making the world go round rather than by using little bits of green paper.
To me, money IS power. If you've got enough of it you can do what you want in this world. Therefore, I see any struggle over money as a power struggle. It doesn't matter that the struggle takes place in a defined procedure. At the end of the day somebody will come out richer than someone else and will have won the money. With that money they are able to increase their influence and power over the people.
That's why I consider it to be a power struggle.

"LOL. I got worried for a second there when I thought you attributed that quote to me. I'm not educated!!! "

So should have put Britchick

I do see what you are saying, however, in terms of the blocs economies its not really relative. The amounts being talked about here are a pittance as both sides know. This should not be made out to be something its not.

The GM thing just highlights the whole matter is simple tit for tat. B.l.o.o.d.y WTO is a farce

When are the next round of Trade talks?
This could all be positioning.

JB there is a ministerial level meeting this September I believe but given the nature of an organisation like the WTO I think moves like this are all just positioning.