Tokyo, Nov 26 More and more countries are joiningJapan's campaign to have a review of anti-dumping rules included in new round of global trade talks, leaving the United States out in the cold, a top Japanese trade official said on Friday."If things keep going the way they are, it will be the UnitedStates versus the rest of the world," Hisamitsu Arai, Vice Trade Minister for International Affairs told Reuters in an interview.The United States is alone in being completely opposed whilethe number of countries saying, 'yes this is a problem' has risen rapidly," he said.Anti-dumping is set to be one of several contentious topicsfor a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Seattle from November 30 to December 3 at which world trade ministers will try to agree on an agenda for the next round of global trade talks. Arai also said persistent divisions - which include one overdemands by Japan and Europe to maintain special treatment for farm trade -- meant a successful launch of the new round was not a foregone conclusion.
While Japan has been loudest in calling for a review ofanti-dumping rules, many developing countries and Canada have voiced support. The European Union has also said it is interested in greater checks on the way anti-dumping measures are imposed although it does not want a complete overhaul.
The row over whether anti-dumping rules should be tightenedhas erupted into a bitter war of words between the two countries, long sparring partners over trade and currently wrangling over U.S. Anti-dumping steps against Japanese steel.
-- REUTERS
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