EU Increases CDSOA Retaliatory Duties on Women's Jeans, Other Products
The European Union announced it is raising its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods for noncompliance with a World Trade Organization ruling against the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA, also known as the Byrd Amendment) (here). Effective May 1, the EU is upping the additional tariff from 0.35 percent to 1.5 percent on metal eyewear frames, trucks with cranes, frozen sweetcorn, and women’s denim trousers.
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The EU is upping the tariffs because of more disbursements of CDSOA funds in fiscal year 2014. 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 lowered retaliatory tariffs accordingly to 0.35%. In FY 2014 disbursments again rose to about $3.2 million, so the EU is increasing retaliatory duties to 1.5%.
Goods from the U.S. entering the EU under the following EU Combined Nomenclature subheadings are subject to the 2015 retaliatory tariff, beginning on May 1:
| Subheading | Description | Normal Duty | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0710.40.10 | Vegetables (uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water), frozen: Sweetcorn | 5.1%* | 5.45* | 6.6%* |
| 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% | 12.35% | 13.5% |
| 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% | 4.05% | 5.2% |
| 9003.19.30 | Frames and mountings for spectacles, goggles or the like, and parts thereof: Frames and mountings: Of other materials | 2.2% | 2.55% | 2.7% |
*Also subject to a duty of €9.40 per 100 kg net