The World Trade Organisation (WTO) gave a mixed ruling on Friday in a case involving US tariffs on Spanish olives, finding the United States had correctly determined they were being dumped on the US market but not that they benefited from subsidies.
The administration of US President Donald Trump imposed a combination of duties to counter dumping and subsidies in August 2018 totalling between 30.64% and 44.47%.
The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation European Union, took the US to the WTO and a three-person panel issued its finding on Friday.
It accepted three points of the EU complaint related to tariffs to counter subsidies. These included that the EU’s common agricultural policy was not specific for olive growers and that a US regulation allowing Washington to consider all support passed on to exporters was inconsistent with WTO rules.
But the panel rejected an EU claim on the US assessment of injury related to both anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties.
The panel recommended that the US bring its measures into conformity with global trade rules.
The Commission says the export of ripe olives from Spain to the US fell by almost 60% from an annual 26 million euros before tariffs were imposed.
It said its efforts to defend the interests of Spanish growers were paying off and that it expected the US to take appropriate steps.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2021.
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