US tariffs on EU products "as early as Feb. 1...no later than March 3"
"U.S. threatens EU with tariffs as the banana split gets wider
The U.S., moving to punish the European Union in a trade dispute involving bananas, on Monday published a list of EU products that will face 100% tariffs as early as Feb. 1.
THE LIST IS “intended to send a clear and unambiguous message” that the U.S. expects the EU to meet the obligations of its membership in the World Trade Organization, said Peter Scher, a special U.S. trade negotiator for agriculture. The tariffs could cost European producers “hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the sanctions are intended to offset “the damage caused by the EU's discriminatory banana regime.” She said “our door remains open to a negotiated solution.” But as recently as Friday a meeting between Sir Leon Brittan, the European Union's trade minister, and President Clinton and other administration officials failed to produce an agreement. The WTO ruled in 1997 that the EU's trade regime on bananas violates global trade rules, giving the 15-nation union 15 months to modify the rules. But Mr. Scher said the EU has repeatedly delayed making changes. The “failure of the EU to abide by the panel decisions of the WTO is undermining the credibility of the system,” he said.
The U.S. list of EU products that could face punitive tariffs comprises 16 tariff lines involving products ranging from chandeliers and lighting fixtures to Pecorino cheese. Other targeted items include: candles, sweet biscuits, bath additives, handbags, folding cartons, greeting cards, lithographs, cashmere garments, cotton bed linen, certain batteries and electric coffee and tea makers. But not all of those products may actually be subject to tariff increases, Mr. Scher said, because the U.S. is open to a negotiated settlement of the banana dispute. “When we put out a proposed list, it is by practice larger than we will actually implement,” Mr. Scher said. The U.S. contends the EU's trade rules on bananas discriminate in favor of bananas imported from former European colonies in the Caribbean and against bananas from Central American nations that are grown by U.S. companies such as Chiquita Brands International Inc. Mr. Scher said the U.S. will seek authorization from the WTO on Jan. 21 to impose the punitive tariffs, which will not be applied to products from the Netherlands and Denmark. That's because the two EU countries have opposed the union's current stance on banana-trade rules. The WTO has until Jan. 31 to grant authorization, unless the EU requests arbitration to decide whether the level of the tariffs is greater than the damage done to the U.S. by the EU banana rules. In any event, unless the EU rules are changed, the punitive tariffs will take effect no later than March 3, Mr. Scher said. “If the EU is prepared to negotiate with us to implement a WTO-consistent regime by
March 3, we are prepared to suspend this action,” he said."
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