Colombia is threatening to impose sanctions on imports from the European Union in a dispute over the union’s banana import regime. The South American country has reportedly given the EU until June 1 to pay compensation for its tariffs on imports of bananas. The warning has been posted with a World Trade Organisation website but has not identified specifically which products are likely to be hit.
Colombia’s diplomats argue that they have been losing millions of euros since the EU was enlarged two years ago when new member states raised import duties on the fruit to come in line with EU regulations.
The likely targets of the Colombian action are Germany and Sweden, and in particular the luxury cars they manufacture for export. The rationale could be that both European countries are critics of the regime and the South Americans may be hoping to garner their support for their compensation request.
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