Trade Policy Roundup

• 1 Removal of EU/UK tariffs – US dry bean imports to the EU and UK continue to face 25% retaliatory tariffs as a result of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. While the respective governments have agreed to suspend tariffs in the Airbus/Boeing dispute, the steel and aluminum tariffs and retaliatory response predates this and has not been resolved. USDBC has already sent letters to USDA Secretary Vilsack and will be reaching out to USTR Tai and Secretary of Commerce Raimondo this week, to ask for the suspension of retaliatory tariffs on US dry bean imports.
• 2     Dominican Republic (DR) adherence to no duty no quota on US dry bean imports. Since the full implementation of the CAFTA/DR trade agreement last year, U.S. dry bean imports can enter the Dominican republic duty-free with no limit to tonnage or duty-free quota-free. While this should be beneficial to both sides, it has instead resulted in market protection mechanisms by the DR to limit the amount of U.S dry beans entering the country, especially during peak local harvest. This is in direct violation of the trade agreement. USDBC has been in long-standing talks with USDA/FAS Santo Domingo and will be meeting with USTR officials this week.
• 3  Low or zero-tolerance MRLs – we remain concerned about the continued proliferation of low or zero MRLs/tolerances for pesticides/herbicides. Many of our most important export markets continue to veer away from Codex and impose unrealistic tolerances levels that will result in a disruption of trade. We are particularly concerned about the EU and Mexico. We have just issued an RFP to bring on a technical specialist to assist us in a new initiative to help us address this ongoing area of concern worldwide.