EU to Request Consultation With US at WTO on the Spanish Olives' Case

The European Commission has announced that it will send a request for consultation with the U.S. Jan. 29 to try to settle the dispute about the tariffs imposed on Spanish black olives, the EU trade chief has said. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström announced Monday that the EU is finally ready to initiate a consultation request process within the World Trade Organization with the United States. "The duties imposed by the United States on ripe olives from Spain are unjustified, unwarranted and go against the rules of the World Trade Organization," she said in a tweet Monday. In June last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the need for tariffs ranging from 7.52% to 27.02% to counteract Spanish olive prices, after it found that EU subsidies allow the fruits to be sold on the U.S. market for 16.88% to 25.5% below their production value. The U.S. feels Spanish black table olives have been exported to the U.S. at dumping prices and that the product receives European and Spanish subsidies that give it an unfair advantage over similar products by American competitors. The U.S. tariffs followed a Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission investigation, launched after Californian olive enterprises filed a petition asking for an assessment of Spanish olive imports.