Detail

European Union

Oilseeds, oils and meals

Select oilseeds and vegetable oils

01/11/2020

Trade

Trade differences

Following a WTO ruling allowing the European Union (EU) to take countermeasures against the United States for providing illegal subsidies to aircraft maker Boeing, the EU introduced additional tariffs on a number of US products, including bulk imports of unshelled/shelled groundnuts and selected minor vegetable oils, such as tung, jojoba and oiticica oil.

EUROPEAN UNION / UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – retaliatory import tariffs: Following the WTO ruling, on 13 October 2020, that the European Union may take countermeasures against the United States for providing illegal subsidies to aircraft maker Boeing, the European Commission introduced additional tariffs on a number of US products, including civilian aircraft, food, agricultural and industrial goods. Bulk agricultural imports from the United States subject to an additional duty of 25 percent as of 10 November 2020 include unshelled/shelled groundnuts and selected, minor vegetable oils like tung, jojoba and oiticica oil. As for groundnuts, in 2017–2019, annual EU imports of unshelled and shelled US groundnuts averaged 23 000 and 99 000 tonnes respectively, accounting for 29 percent and 16 percent of the EU’s total imports. (See also MPPU May/Nov.’19 & July/Sep.’20)