Brussels Faces Legal Action Over Tariffs, Article Review Example

The United States and Japan joined forces in May 2010 to force tariffs on high end technology products for the sake of lower tariffs on these products. Under current diplomatic legislation these products are assembled in the European Union for much cheaper labor and might force the poorer nations out of work, but the United States and Japan are more concerned about paying the stiff tariffs. The uprising of the tariffs has been brought by new tariffs put on many electronics sought by neighboring countries such as Poland. Peter Mandelson of the EU trade commission has commented on the situation stating that they have not broken the agreement with the 27 states of the union which promises tariff free trading. This tariff free trading was implemented to promote steady trading amongst the EU nations. Susan Schwab, U.S. trade commissioner was concerned that the United States was turning into a negotiation exclusionary country rather than an open and competitive market. One of the products the EU acted upon with close watch was the trade of poultry washed in chlorinated water. Commissioners insisted the chicken must be labeled proper and accordingly to meet policies under the EU and United States trade alliance.

Japan complained the tariffs were costing them as much as $200 million a year alone. “The overall trade is worth approximately $70 billion”, says US spokespersons. (Bounds & Politi, 2008). The European Union is afraid these continued tariffs will force these jobs to move elsewhere out of the 27 European states of the union.

Works Cited

Bounds, A. & Politi, J. Brussels Faces Legal Action over Tariffs The Financial Times Limited, 2008.