Belgium: Brussels ramps up pressure on Washington to drop black olive tariffs

Published Feb 9, 2022

Tridge summary

The European Commission is putting pressure on the U.S. to remove tariffs on Spanish ripe table olive imports, following a WTO ruling that the anti-subsidy tariffs were illegal. However, the U.S. is resisting, with olive producers in California arguing against the ruling. The European Parliament's Agriculture Committee has warned of potential tough measures against the U.S. if the tariffs are not lifted promptly. Meanwhile, Spanish black olive producers have suffered losses of over €150 million since 2018 and are not expected to be compensated by the commission.

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Original content

The European Commission is piling pressure on the United States to remove the tariffs imposed on Spanish ripe table olive imports in 2018. Brussels’ pressure on Washington comes in the wake of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) November 2021 ruling that said anti-subsidy tariffs were illegal. However, the organization ruled that the separate anti-dumping tariffs could remain. Despite the ruling, the U.S. does not seem keen to follow the WTO’s orders, with many olive producers and their allies in California calling for the U.S. to resist the ruling. Adrián Vázquez, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the center-right Ciudadanos party and a spokesman for the Agriculture Committee, said the commission should be forceful with the U.S. to make sure the country complied with the WTO ruling. “The commission says that it is going to give it a reasonable time, but the sector and the families have been waiting for four years,” he said. “They have lost money, and many farms have ...

Source: Olive Oil Times