EU Lowers CDSOA Retaliatory Duties on Women's Jeans, Other Products
The European Union announced it is lowering its retailiatory tariffs on U.S. goods for noncompliance with a World Trade Organization ruling against the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA, aka the Byrd Amendment). Effective May 1, the EU is dropping the additional tariff from 26 to 0.35 percent on metal eyewear frames, trucks with cranes, frozen sweetcorn, and women’s denim trousers.
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The EU is decreasing the tariffs because of fewer disbursements of CDSOA funds in fiscal year 2013. Each year, in response to the amount of disbursements by the U.S., the EU adds to or removes from a list of goods subject to the additional duties, or increases or decreases the additional tariff rate. In fiscal year 2011, the U.S. only disbursed $3.24 million in CDSOA funds, so the EU accordingly reduced the additional tariff to 6% for 2012. CDSOA disbursements shot up to $60.77 million in fiscal year 2012, so the EU raised the retaliatory tariff to 26% for 2013. In FY 2013, U.S. CDSOA disbursements only totaled $872,685, so the EU is lowering retaliatory tariffs accordingly to 0.35%.
Goods from the U.S. entering the EU under the following EU Combined Nomenclature subheadings are subject to the 2014 retaliatory tariff, beginning on May 1:
| Subheading | Description | Duty1 | Old2 | New3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0710.40.10 | Vegetables (uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water), frozen: Sweetcorn | 5.1%* | 31.1* | 5.45%* |
| 6204.62.31 | Womens or girls suits, ensembles, jackets, blazers, dressers, skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear): Trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts: Of cotton: Trousers and breeches: Other: Of denim | 12% | 38% | 12.35% |
| 8705.10.00 | Special purpose motor vehicles, other than those principally designed for the transport of persons or goods (for example, breakdown lorries, crane lorries, fire fighting vehicles, concrete-mixer lorries, road sweeper lorries, spraying lorries, mobile workshops, mobile radiological units): Crane lorries | 3.7% | 29.7% | 4.05% |
| 9003.19.30 | Frames and mountings for spectacles, goggles or the like, and parts thereof: Frames and mountings: Of other materials | 2.2% | 28.2% | 2.55% |
*Also subject to a duty of €9.40 per 100 kg net
1Normal duty rate for entries under this subheading into the EU.
2Duty rate including additional retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, in effect from May 1, 2013 - April 30, 2014
3New duty rate for U.S. goods after increase in retaliatory tariff, in effect beginning May 1, 2014