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The European Commission decided this Friday, July 14, to bring the United States back before the World Trade Organization for not having eliminated the 35% tariff on Spanish black olives, despite the ruling of this body against it.
The tariff dispute between the United States and the European Union, which worsened during the Presidency of Donald Trump, has Spanish olives as protagonists in its most recent chapter.
Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil, with most of it produced in Andalusia, whose hills and plains are dotted with olive trees with their distinctive knotted trunks. But its entry into the US market has not been easy in recent years.
This industry was hit hard when the Commerce Department imposed tariffs of around 35% on Spanish black olives in 2018 after concluding they were selling too cheaply and benefiting from unfair subsidies.
Then-President Donald Trump soured the bilateral mood with the announcement that he would impose heavy tariffs, not only on these products, but on others such as Spanish olive oil, wine and cheese.
Unfulfilled promise
Trump’s decision at the time was part of the countermeasures authorized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a long-running dispute over subsidies to the aircraft maker Airbus.
However, in the case of black olives, the body ruled in 2021 in favor of Brussels. The United States later promised to adapt its legislation before January 14, 2023, but a new ruling in favor of the imposition of the tariff once again questioned aid to European agriculture.
Brussels requested this Friday the establishment of a new arbitration panel in the WTO because it considers that its counterpart “continues to apply illegitimate tariffs that can expel Spanish olive exporters from the US market.”
Once the new arbitration panel is composed, the WTO will have 90 days to make a final decision. “If the United States does not comply with this new decision or decides to appeal the panel’s report, the EU may consider retaliatory measures,” the European Commission said in a statement.
Spain exports around a quarter of its olive production – not counting those used to make olive oil – to the United States, and around 40% are black olives that are sold to the food industry to make pizzas and other products. .
With EFE and Reuters
