-  Positions

Letter of the CIAA to the attention of the members of the 133 Committee

Subject: EU retaliation measures in the framework of the "steel" trade dispute

With respect to the dispute on steel, the European Union plans to apply retaliation measures against imports of certain products arriving from the United States, if an agreement cannot be found on compensations intended to counterbalance the losses recorded by European exports on the American market. The draft list of American products for which EU tariff duties could possibly be increased includes a number of food and drink products.

The CIAA regrets once again that the food and drink sector could be affected by the consequences of trade disputes which stem from a completely different sector. The food and drink industry encourages the Commission to pursue its consultations with the US authorities in order to find alternative solutions to retaliation measures, especially by considering compensations. Whatever the result of these negotiations, it is crucial that WTO members respect multilateral rules when considering the different procedures.

If the intended trade sanctions were to be applied, they could result in denying certain European industries of indispensable supply sources. As an example, the European fruit juice makers inform us that all supplementary taxes on imports of American grapefruit and orange juice will shatter segments of growing markets and will lead to consequences in terms of investment and employment in Europe. Moreover, the impact of the proposed sanctions on the supply of dried shelled kidney beans would also be detrimental to European vegetable canning industries as these products imported from the United States reply to needs for specific quality.

The food and drink industry asks the Member States and the Commission that the products, targeted in the retaliation measures, reply clearly to the criteria of choice cited by the Commission itself, that is to say diversified possibilities for supply in other third countries for European operators.