Yes, We Have No Banana Duties

ByJohn S. McClenahen Italy's FIAM, a maker of lead-acid batteries, and France's Louis Vuitton, a producer of luxury handbags, are two of the European manufacturers who stand to benefit from the lifting of punitive 100% duties the U.S. imposed more than two years ago in a dispute with the European Union over banana imports. The U.S. removed the duties July 1. Along with European rejection of U.S. beef and objections to tax incentives for U.S. exports, the now-settled banana battle was at the heart of a still-continuing transatlantic trade war. The extra U.S. duties affected US$191.4 million worth of European goods, including bed linens, bath products, cartons, boxes, lithographs, and coffee-brewing machines.