'The Great Banana War’ – Christopher Meyers

Résumé du document

This text is extracted from the book DC confidential: The controversial Memoirs of Britain's Ambassador to the US at the time of 9/11 and the Iraq War. In this chapter, the author, a former British ambassador explains the conflict known as the great banana war which occurred in the late 1990s. It is a conflict between the European Union, which want to insure economic protection for African and Caribbean countries, and the US, which stands for more and more liberalization in the global structure. This text is particularly relevant because it helps us in understanding the special relation between the UK and the US, and also between the UK and the European Union.

At the beginning of this chapter, the author explains the reasons for this conflict about a fruit that neither the US nor the European Union produce in their mainland. On the one hand, European countries supply subsidies to African and Caribbean countries which produce banana because they consider we cannot leave these countries fend for themselves in the unfair competition set by globalization. On the other hand, the US asses that every country should be in liberalized competition with others. For instance, the US defends the interests of central and Latin America which are victims of discrimination on the part of European countries which get better prices for African and Caribbean banana imports (in exchange for their help). After a while, the US got fed up and decided to apply the mechanism of retaliation to raise prices on European imports.

A German technocrat was appointed to represent European interests in the negotiations. The author explains that the position of the UK in such conflict is a bit complex because it did not take the same attitudes as other countries such as France and Germany towards European integration. On the other side, the UK has also a special relationship with the US although trade policy often generates conflicts between both countries.

Extraits

[...] We have a good example of the way the WTO works, with the application of the mechanism of retaliation on the part of the US. On the other hand, we can see how personal attitudes or feelings (Scottish attachment of Lott) can shape international decisions. Although this does not provoke considerable changes, we see that men (especially secondary people less famous) can influence international politics. References Christopher Meyers ?The Great Banana War? in DC Confidential: The Controversial Memoirs of Britain?s Ambassador to the US at the Time of 9/11 and the Iraq War(London, Weidenfeld Nicholson, pp.115-126. [...]

[...] Thus, the ambassador could meet Lott and talk to him about the banana problem and especially the risk incurred by Scottish cashmere wool producers. Surprisingly, the ambassador discovered that Lott was of Scottish origin and thus, he was affected by the likely penalisation of the Scottish industry. Scottish cashmere wool producers were never penalised in the end and the ambassador and Lott organised a few Scottish events in the US. This text is very interesting because the ambassador puts forward many aspects which are useful to understand international politics. [...]

[...] Great Banana War' Christopher Meyers This text is extracted from the book DC confidential: The controversial Memoirs of Britain's Ambassador to the US at the time of 9/11 and the Iraq War. In this chapter, the author, a former British ambassador explains the conflict known as the great banana war which occurred in the late 1990s. It is a conflict between the European Union, which want to insure economic protection for African and Caribbean countries, and the US, which stands for more and more liberalisation in the global structure. [...]

[...] He explains her wife Catherine told about the way she lost her children to the newspapers. This led to the creation of charity associations to defend exploited children and parental child abduction. There was a conflict with Germany. American congressmen, senators or even simply parents sided with Catherine in her courageous fight against German authorities. Well-known personalities such as Hilary Clinton, Cherie Blair and Laura Bush joined Catherine in the charity associations she had created. She was even supported more by the American government than by the British one. [...]

[...] Indeed, they want to increase import duties, which are sometimes doubled. For instance, the Scottish cashmere industry would be affected by this increase, whereas this market is vital for Scottish producers. The ambassador, negotiating with Americans, explained that the UK was probably the only state which defended a reformed regime: in their opinions, it is unfair to punish them. This is particularly interesting to understand the specific behaviour of the UK in international bargaining. The debate took place between both powers but no improvement was made. [...]