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Article: Lawmakers plead with US Trade Rep to scotch tariffs on EU food and drink
05 August 2020
A bipartisan group of US legislators is pleading with US Trade
Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to remove retaliatory
duties on food and drink imports from the European Union —
tariffs tied to a different trade dispute — that they claim
would harm their constituents.
In a July 29 letter to Lighthizer, the lawmakers urge a
"targeted approach" to meting out sanctions on EU exports because
of an ongoing civil aircraft dispute involving aerospace giant
Airbus before the World Trade Organization (WTO).
They say USTR must remove duties on food and drink products "as
that industry is struggling during the current pandemic."
Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio),
plus 164 additional members of the House, are leading the campaign
to push USTR to reconsider trade sanctions on a range of EU food
and beverages that are otherwise sources of profit for bars,
restaurants, and other small businesses.
"Tens of millions of Americans are now out of work and
businesses across America have been devastated," Pascrell and
Wenstrup write.
"The economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has
been particularly hard for the food, beverage, and hospitality
industries in our country, which include many small and
medium-sized retailers, restaurants, distributors, and
manufacturers.
"For instance, many restaurants across the United States have
closed their doors or are operating with limited seating capacity
due to government mandates," Pascrell and Wenstrup continue. "In
this environment, these businesses have minimal flexibility to
raise prices. Additional duties on imported wine, spirits, and food
products like fruit, pork, and olive oil cut into their already
tight profit margins, further threatening the survival of these
industries and the many jobs they support."
The civil aircraft dispute stretches back to at least 2011 when
WTO first found that EU member states were illegally subsidizing
Airbus at the expense of Boeing in the US.
In Dec. 2019, a WTO panel upheld previous findings that EU
states had made only cosmetic changes to what USTR considered a
"corporate welfare scheme" on behalf of Airbus. WTO opened the door
to US tariffs of 10% on large civil aircraft and 25% on
agricultural and other products, with the bulk of these tariffs
being applied to imports from France, Germany, Spain, and the
United Kingdom - the four countries responsible for the illegal
subsidies.
In February, WTO announced it planned to go further still
identifying an additional $3.1 billion in products - including many
ag goods - that could be targeted with higher duties, possibly as
high as 100 percent.
And then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US where it
has been raging ever since.
In a news release, Pascrell said, "Businesses in the food,
beverage, and hospitality sectors are especially vulnerable,
encompassing many small and medium-sized retailers, restaurants,
distributors, and manufacturers which are operating in limited or
no capacity. Failure to remove these tariffs could further squeeze
countless struggling small businesses and force many to shutter and
eliminate jobs."
And while lawmakers praise Lighthizer for his get-tough stance
on the EU/Airbus issue, they add, "We hope you will update the
United States' approach in this case to eliminate unintended
hardships for Americans trying to make ends meet and small
businesses seeking to recover."