AlQa'dah 20, 1432, Oct 18, 2011, SPA -- Major economies outside Europe "have clearly not kept all their promises" in terms of abstaining from protectionism, the European Union's top trade official complained on Tuesday, dpa reported. "We have found that over the last year 130 new trade restrictive measures have been introduced by the EU's trading partners - a rise of 30 per cent," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told the German Mechanical Engineering Association Summit in Berlin. The text of his speech was redistributed in Brussels. "What is more, several G20 members are embarking on industrial policies based on import substitution, local content requirements and restrictions in public procurement," De Gucht added, referring to the Group of 20 (G20) major economies. "The members of the G20 have clearly not kept all their promises," he concluded - refraining from singling out any specific country for criticism. The United States, on the other hand, has repeatedly accused China of deliberately undervaluing its currency and promoting domestic industries to gain export advantage. Speaking ahead of the November 3-4 G20 summit in Cannes, France, De Gucht said the EU would "continue to remind its trading partners of their commitments (to free trade) in all multilateral and bilateral fora." De Gucht also said the bloc would continue negotiations on wide-ranging free trade agreements with Canada, India, Singapore and the South American Mercosur trading bloc. Highlighting the benefits of such policy, the commissioner said EU exporters are now paying 850 billion euros (1.2 billion dollars) less in duties to South Korea as a result of a free trade agreement that entered into force in July.
