Moreover, he said, when the United States won its trade cases against Europe over bananas and beef raised with hormones, Washington immediately imposed its sanctions.

In the dispute over bananas and beef, the Clinton administration is preparing a list of European products that would be subject to tariffs.

Past trans-Atlantic trade disputes, like those over bananas and hormone-treated beef, have taken years to wind through resolution and appeals.

"It's hard to believe," one American official mused today, "that we got to this by arguing over bananas."

After all, the battles over bananas and beef have already risen to the presidential level several times.

A seriocomic little trade war has broken out over bananas.

And the breakfast "banana split" ($3.95) is refreshing and filling with cubes of fresh fruit over bananas and nutty granola.

The next item is the Commission statement on the trade dispute between the European Union and the United States over bananas.

Latin America is in revolt against Europe over bananas.

The United States and the European Union are headed toward an avoidable collision over bananas.