Aon Trade Credit Says Mutual Business Interests Will Eventually Overrule Disagreements Over U.S. Foreign Policy.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2003

While long-term impact of current U.S. foreign policies on institutions like the United Nations is debatable, the future of America's relationships with its traditional trading partners is not, according to John Minor, senior vice president of Aon's Trade Credit Practice Group. Minor says that in a global economy all nations have a certain economic interdependence, and current world tensions haven't changed that.

"The rift in U.S.-European relations represents legitimate differences in political opinion, but ignores economic realities," he says. "Nations' economies are dependent upon each other like never before. Eventually diplomacy will prevail and disagreeing nations will return to saying publicly what most of them acknowledge privately --- that there are few bit players in a global economy."

Minor says that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has been quoted as describing the current U.S. economy as "a soft spot," referring to the stagnation that has resulted from concerns about the duration and cost of the war in Iraq. If the "soft spot" gets any softer, Minor says countries like Japan, that count on a healthy U.S. economy to keep their own markets going, may be in real trouble.

But it shouldn't come to that. Minor says a healthy U.S. economy is the one irreplaceable ingredient for a global economic recovery. He says we can expect to see companies with major international business interests step in to try to mediate the disputes that have led to the current spate of frayed relationships.

Established in 1912, Aon Trade Credit Global has pioneered the field of trade credit and political risk insurance and consultancy. Credit insurance covers counterparty payment default - e.g., circumstances when an exporter extends credit to an overseas buyer and the buyer does not pay. Political risk insurance covers perils originating from government intervention, inability to obtain or transfer hard currency, and political violence such as war, civil war, riots and terrorism.

Aon's Trade Credit practice group will be among the organizations represented at the Chicago Risk Insurance Management Society (RIMS) conference at McCormick Place, April 7-10. Managing Director Bryan Squibb will hold a deskside press briefing on Tuesday, April 8 at 11 a.m. at the Aon RIMS booth. Squibb will pinpoint several nations whose economies are likely to be significantly affected by the war in Iraq.

Aon Corporation is a holding company that is comprised of a family of insurance brokerage, consulting, and insurance underwriting subsidiaries.

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