The match has reached the end of its second quarter and Spain takes the lead against USA. The US Court of International Trade (ITC) ruled last Friday in favour of the Spanish olive sector. The ITC has deliberated that the tariff imposed by the US Government on the ripe olive sector are not justified. Now the ball is in the court of the U.S. Department of Commerce and it has a 90-day deadline to present new evidence to justify a 35% tariff on spanish black olive imports.
This may be the first step for the US Government to reduce the tariff rate from 35% to 20%, giving considerable breathing space to the olive sector that has been so badly hit over the last two years.
In parallel with this dispute, the European Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, who has shown great sensitivity to this problem, and there is full coordination with the European Union and the Spanish Government to mitigate the damage. This new resolution against the tariff will help the process opened by the European Union in the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the tariff rates imposed by the US Government.
