This week the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that tariffs ranging from 7.52 percent to 27.02 percent would be needed to counteract Spanish olive prices, arguing that the fruits were being sold for 16.88- to 25.5-percent less than their real value.
On Wednesday, a commission spokesman told reporters in Brussels that the preliminary duties were already hitting producers in Andalusia, where olive production “has a very significant economic and social impact.”
He said: “We are also well aware of the possible wider implications of this process and that is why the commission got involved so actively in these proceedings and will continue to do so.”
The U.S. has said its move covers Spanish olives of all colours, shapes, size, pitted and non-pitted, whole, sliced, minced, wedged or broken. Exports to the U.S. were worth £50.3m in 2017.
