The European Union has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) for authorization to carry out trade retaliation worth $35 million per year against the United States for its insistence on not complying with a decision which indicates that the customs duties they impose for the entry of Spanish olives violate certain commercial rules in force.
In a communication that has circulated among WTO member states, the European Union (EU) addresses the organization and reminds it that the deadline which was considered reasonable for the United States to comply with this decision expired in January 2023 and this This was not done.
More specifically, the US Department of Commerce reduced its tariffs on Spanish black olives from 35% to 31%which Brussels completely considered insufficient.
Today, the EU has taken a step forward and is proposing the suspension of trade benefits enjoyed by the United States for an amount equivalent to $35 millionwhich can be adjusted for inflation this year and subsequent years.
Finally, the Europeans indicated to the WTO that they would transmit a list of American products and the level of tariffs that will be applied to them.
The EU has attached great importance to this dispute from the start because of the precedent it could set and its possible impact on European agricultural subsidy policy under the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Beyond this affair, the WTO and its member states are now awaiting the position that the new government of the American president-elect, the Republican Donald Trump, will have with regard to this organization, which he has criticized on several occasions during of his first mandate, emphasizing that His actions did not correspond to the interests of his country.
