Passage 1East Europeans Fear ProtectionismWith the collapse of the Comecon trading systems two years ago, the countries of EasternEurope cut ties with one another and reoriented their trade to West European markets.Helped by the lifting of many European Community and European Free Trade Association(EYFA) trade barriers, Eastern leaders had hoped that the signing of free trade agreements with theEC and EFTA earlier this year would further integrate their economies with the West.But a spate of measures restricting imports from the East has raised concerns across the regionthat Western Europe has no intention of letting the East compete on an equal footing.Western European measures:In April, the EC imposed a ban on livestock, meat and dairy products from 18 easterncountries. The EC followed with antidumping duties and "voluntary" export restraints on certainsteel products from Hungary and Poland. And just days after signing the EFTA free-trade agreementin early April, Austria introduced import quotas on chemicals, cement, agricultural machinery andsteel from Eastern Europe. West Europeans claim that their eastern neighbors have an unfairadvantage because of low wages, state subsidies and low environmental standards.Although the EC and EFTA agreements are supposed to lift tariffs and trade barriers on mostindustrial goods over 10 years, most agricultural products are not included in the agreements. This iscriticalfor Hungary, with its extensive farm sector. The countries of Eastern Europe are welcomed by their western neighbors in foreign trade.

A. 对
B. 错