EU trade duties
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
European Union initiates customs duty of 5% on list of U.S. products including select cosmetic and fragrance ingredients March 1 in response to World Trade Organization dispute regarding the U.S. Foreign Sales Corporations subsidy. Countermeasures will include automatic monthly increases by 1% up to a ceiling of 17% on March 1, 2005, unless the U.S. subsidy is repealed, the EU says. Draft proposal of the EU sanctions list originally included 11 cosmetic ingredient categories, but the final list, approved by the WTO last year, comprised a very limited number of cosmetic ingredients, including deterpenated oils derived from clove, niaouli and ylang-ylang and non-deterpenated oils from lavender (1"The Rose Sheet" May 12, 2003, p. 12)...