EU-US tanker contract spat to have 'consequences': France

Claims the Pentagon skewed bidding rules for a tanker jet contract in favor of an American manufacturer will have serious consequences for EU-US relations, a French minister said Wednesday.


"This is a serious matter," Pierre Lellouche, France's minister for Europe, told reporters after a meeting of President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet. "Naturally, we're talking about the arms market, so it's not a classic matter of international law and the World Trade Organisation, but we're going to respond," he said, without saying what France's response would be. "I can assure you that there will be consequences. The president will act on the matter at the appropriate time. This matter is in no way finished.

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