EUROPE GETS TRADE POLITICS SAVVY

FT:

"A final WTO decision on whether the EU and its seven co-complainants may retaliate against the US is expected in June. However, the European Commission has already told members that it plans to introduce punitive sanctions on the same list of goods it targeted in the trade row over US steel safeguards last year.

The list was designed specifically to hurt the economies of politically sensitive states such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia - some of which could prove crucial swing states in the presidential elections. It includes fruit, vegetables, rice and tobacco, textiles, clothes and shoes as well as a vast range of steel products."