Transatlantic trade tension will recede, predicts UNICE chief

Date: 15/05/03

TRANSATLANTIC trade is unlikely to be a long-term casualty of the conflict in Iraq, the president of EU business group UNICE predicted this week.

Georges Jacobs said the short-term friction - reflected in opinion polls showing many US, French and German customers shunning products from the other side of the Atlantic - will soon abate.

He told European Voice: "I don't think it will have a long- term impact due to the mere fact that a lot of business is already global and many companies are acting on both sides. People would be shooting themselves in the foot by reacting wrongly."

Jacobs added that Europe needed to boost its political ties to ensure that it at last speaks with one voice in international crises, such as the Iraq conflict.

"What is for sure, we need a stronger Europe economically, but also a united Europe," he added.

George Jacobs, the head of UNICE, has suggested that the Iraq conflict is unlikely to have a long term impact on transatlantic trade.