Recent reports suggest that the EU may slap a ban on US fruit, which will further enrage US trade chiefs.

The authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are said to be close to the most violent showdown over exports for many years, in spite of an already-chequered history of tariff and counter-tariff.

The EU sees its proposals for £230m worth of import duties on US goods as enlightened retaliation for George W Bush's actions on steel, and now both sides claim the other is breaking the law.

The US premier decided to hike tariffs on EU steel – including that from the UK – to protect US business interests.

But the EU has hit back by adding export surcharges to fruit, t-shirts, steel and guns.

'This is the single biggest question in global trade policy today,' said a US trade lawyer when asked about the legality of the rivals' actions.

Meanwhile a US trade official claimed the EU was taking the law into its own hands.

'It is trying to be judge and jury,' he said.

Some commentators believe the Florida-based citrus industry has been targeted to hit Bush where it really hurts.

The president won the state – and as such the presidential election – by just a few votes, amid allegations of voter confusion and electoral dysfunction.

His failure to hold Florida – a key marginal seat – would be a major blow in the next poll, and damage to its citrus industry could provide the catalyst for such a scenario.

Topics