The Obama administration has reversed the past administration's plan for retaliatory import tarriffs on various luxury commodities, such as Rocquefort cheese and gourmet Spanish hams. The tarriffs were a response to the EU's ban on imports of hormone treated beef from the US.
posted by longsleeves on May 7, 2009 - 59 comments

Trade Wars Bush imposes import tariffs on steel, something I didn't really expect coming from the administration. Dangerous precedent or useful bulwark against laissez-faire globalization?
posted by kliuless on Mar 5, 2002 - 46 comments

Last week, the WTO ruled against a corporate welfare program for US exporters (again). This week, a Canadian hemp company claims the US owes them US$20m under NAFTA for harrassment and impinging on future returns.
posted by raaka on Jan 23, 2002 - 10 comments

Is 'lumpy sauce' a vegetable? EU officials are meeting today to decide this burning question. (more inside)
posted by mr_crash_davis on Jan 9, 2002 - 13 comments

"We have always maintained that we have the right to decide the way in which we distribute our products to best serve our customers." (Especially at a 100% markup.) Levi Strauss celebrates an EU judgement on parallel imports that protects their ability to sell $40 jeans for £50 in the UK. In an era of online storefronts, transatlantic shopping trips, and continental car sales, can these new brand-based tariff barriers really hold up?
posted by holgate on Nov 20, 2001 - 26 comments