British companies ordered to ignore US pipeline ban
| London
Lord Cockfield, the trade secretary, said Monday British companies have been ordered not to comply with a US embargo on sales of American technology to help build a natural gas pipeline from the Soviet Union to Western Europe.
In a move certain to strain already tense trade relations with Washington, Lord Cockfield told Parliament he was determined to defend British interests in the dispute over selling US equipment or technology to Moscow for the line.
