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USCIB Letter to Ambassador of Poland on Agricultural Tariffs
December 14, 1999
His Excellency Jerzy Kozminski
Ambassador of the Republic of Poland
2640 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
Dear Mr. Ambassador,
I am writing to express the concern of the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB) over the proposed unilateral increase of Poland’s import tariffs on a range of agricultural products from MFN applied rates to MFN bound rates. The USCIB is the American affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). As such, it officially represents U.S. business positions in the main intergovernmental bodies, and vis-à-vis foreign business communities and their governments. The Council addresses a broad range of policy issues affecting an increasingly globally-oriented American business community. Its objective is to promote an open system of trade, finance, and investment.
With WTO negotiations further to liberalize agricultural trade scheduled to start next year, we feel this ill-timed proposal contravenes the spirit of these talks, as well as that of the WTO agreements that Poland has already signed. In addition, these tariff increases would threaten to derail the ongoing negotiations on Poland’s accession to the European Union. USCIB and the businesses it represents have consistently supported the completion of the internal market and the enlargement of the E.U. in the expectation that the accession of Poland and the other candidate will reinforce their transition to democratic, free-market economies. This assumes of course that accession to the E.U. does not result in discrimination against U.S. firms or their subsidiaries in the E.U. Therefore, we are particularly concerned about the risk this proposal may pose to the entire enlargement process for both Poland and for other candidate countries since the proposed increase could set a dangerous precedent for other candidates to increase their tariffs.
The proposed tariff increases would also harm the competitiveness of the processing industry in Poland which relies on imported ingredients for some products. In general, such increases would act to further delay needed structural changes in the Polish farm sector. In addition, the possibility of these tariff changes creates uncertainty and the prospect of higher costs, which discourage foreign investment needed to enhance competitiveness and employment in the sector. If foreign investment diminishes, Polish farmers and industry would be disadvantaged in the long run.
Accordingly, we hope that the Polish Government will reconsider its plans to
raise agricultural tariffs, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter with you.
Sincerely,
Thomas M.T. Niles
President
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