The producers of olives of spain are on a war footing, after the Us decision to impose tariffs of 34.75 to % on a product that does live a good part of Andalusia. They accuse the us government of targeting the system of the common agricultural policy (CAP), and have already asked the european Commission to intervene with the world trade Organization (WTO).
“We are attacking, it is the CAP that the United States are attacking, because we receive the same benefits as the rest of the farmers of the european Union [EU],” says Antonio de Mora, president of the Association of Spanish exporters of table olives, which has announced its intention to present an appeal to the us authorities before Friday, August 31.
Started a year ago, the confrontation worsened this summer. At the end of July, the american Commission of international trade has upheld the decision taken in June by the department of commerce to impose anti-dumping duties of 20 % on the Spanish olives and countervailing duties to 14.75 %.
“A systemic risk ”
In November 2017, the DoC had launched an investigation to determine if the Spanish producers and exporters received countervailable subsidies. The us administration responded to a petition submitted in June 2017, by the american Coalition for fair trade of black olives, which includes two producers in california, Bell-Carter Foods and the Musco Family Olive Company, the largest in the United States. They complained that they were victims of an unfair competition on the part of Spain, and requested the imposition of anti-dumping measures.
“California farmers have always tried to limit imports from spain, this has not always worked, but they have found an ideal partner in the current government “,…