DUTCH OFFICIAL WARNS OF MORE TRADE CONFLICTS Already strained relations between the U.S. And the European Community (EC) are likely to get worse before they get better, director general of the Dutch Economics Ministry's foreign affairs division Frans Engering said. Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce lunch in The Hague, Engering noted the developing history of crises over steel, citrus and pasta, and warned of more to come. "I consider the strident tone of US declarations on Airbus ill-advised, and the EC fats and oils tax proposal a dangerous provocation," he said. "I feel that we shall probably have to deal with quite a few more crises in the foreseeable future." Not only is the US Congress clearly very determined to get the American balance of payments into better shape, but the risks of brinkmanship are all the greater because the EC has its own constraints in meeting outside pressure, Engering noted. "If we ask ourselves whether it is perhaps inevitable that we keep pushing each other to the brink of actual trade war, then I think the answer is probably yes," he said. In order to reduce these tensions, decision-making in the EC must become less self-centred, and the US Administration will have to exercise the authority to convince Congress and pressure groups of the need for accommodation, he added.