The end is in sight for the retaliatory duties imposed by the European Union on certain goods imported from the US in the trade dispute over the tax status of “Foreign Sales Corporations”.
The European Commission intends to suspend the retaliatory duties from January 1, 2005, although the UK’s Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) reports there has been no proposal in writing as yet, so it is unlikely that this date will be met.
However, once the additional duties have been removed, it is believed the measure will be applied retrospectively - from January 1, 2005.
A further EU-US trade dispute is in prospect over the so-called “Byrd Amendment” to the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (2000). The EU drew up a list of potential products for additional import duty as a retaliatory measure that included a number of fresh produce items, including apples and grapefruit.
“The FPC lobbied for the removal of fresh fruit and vegetables from the list of products for retaliatory action, and we have been successful in having those products removed. The only vegetable remaining on the list is frozen sweetcorn,” said chief executive Nigel Jenney.
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