On Monday 24 June, at the request of the European Union, a dispute resolution panel was established at the World Trade Organization (WTO), in order to decide on the anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed by the United States on imports of ripe olives from Spain (DS577).
At the end of May, the first EU request had been blocked by Washington (see EUROPE 12265/21); any second request automatically leads to the creation of a panel.
The American representative said he was “disappointed” with the European decision, believing that imposing these tariff measures was justified.
He also expressed his “serious concerns” about the request to set up the panel, which, according to Washington, would include requests not made in the EU's initial request for consultations. They would therefore not be the subject of these consultations. The United States has expressed its willingness to participate in the panel proceedings in order to demonstrate to the panel that the EU's request has no legal basis.
This follows the imposition of tariff duties on Spanish olives since 1 August 2018, with the US Department of Commerce claiming that they received subsidies and were therefore sold at prices below their real value. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)