Upcoming Tariff Changes for EU Remove Greek Cheese, UK Biscuits; Add French and German Jams

Cheeses from Greece and sweet biscuits from the United Kingdom will no longer be subject to Section 301 tariffs on products from the European Union beginning Sept. 1, while a range of fruit jams and purees from France and Germany will be newly covered by the tariffs on that date, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a notice released late Aug. 12.

USTR is making the adjustments pursuant to a July 26 request for comments that drew 24,000 responses (see 2006240017). A USTR Aug. 12 news release characterizes the changes as “modest.” The total value of goods subject to the tariffs, originally implemented in October 2019 in retaliation for EU subsidies to Airbus (see 1910020044), remains unchanged at about $7.5 billion.

Effective Sept. 1, subheading 0406.90.99 for certain cow’s milk cheeses is removed from the list of goods subject to a 25% tariff and classifiable under subheading 9903.89.16. Goods of subheading 0406.90.99 will instead be classifiable in new subheading 9903.89.55, which is nearly identical except for the omission of Greece from the list of covered countries. The net effect is that cow’s milk cheese classifiable under subheading 0406.90.99 is no longer subject to Section 301 tariffs when imported from Greece.

Likewise, sweet biscuits under subheading 9903.31.00 will no longer be classifiable under subheading 9903.89.43, which is for tariffs on Germany and the U.K., and will instead be classifiable in subheading 9903.89.37, which is for Germany only. That means sweet biscuits from the U.K. will no longer be subject to Section 301 tariffs on Sept. 1.

USTR also added new tariffs on several types of jams and fruit purees from France and Germany. Added to the list of goods subject to tariffs under subheading 9903.89.52 are subheadings 2007.99.05 (lingonberry and raspberry jams), 2007.99.10 (strawberry jam), 2007.99.15 (currant and other berry jam, nesoi), 2007.99.20 (apricot jam), 2007.99.25 (cherry jam), 2007.99.35 (peach jam) and 2007.99.60 (strawberry pastes and purees, being cooked preparations). Those new tariffs also take effect Sept. 1.