How Can Roquefort Survive a 300% Tariff?

One Month Reprieve – Can the Obama Administration Settle Dispute?

Mar 31, 2009 Larry Ervin

In a parting slap at the country that declined to support his invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush dumped a 300% tariff on U.S. imports of that blue-veined marvel, Roquefort

The sleepy southern French town of Roquefort sur Soulzon, population 600, seems an unlikely target for a U.S. assault on the European Union, but in the last week before President Obama’s inauguration, the Bush administration launched a punitive 300% tariff on that town’s primary product, France’s most famous blue-veined cheese.

Bush’s Parting Shot

In the Bush administrations eleventh hour gesture, tariffs were dropped on a handful of items, including tomatoes, onions and yarn, but 45 new “European luxury” food products were targeted for 100% tariffs, including:

French Truffles
French Chestnuts
Foie Gras
Italian Mineral Water
Pears, Peaches
Lingonberry and Raspberry Jams
Unfermented Fruit Juices
Certain Chocolate Bars
Certain Meats, Hams and Sausages
Oats
Chewing Gum
Here’s the complete list.

The 300% tariff, however, was reserved for Roquefort cheese, the only product to be identified by it’s AOC protected name.

When asked why Roquefort was being singled out, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel said the intent of the duties was "to shut down trade in the targeted products."

100% Tariff Not Enough

Back inn 1999, when the USTR imposed a 100% tariff on Roquefort, Societe and other producers and cheesemakers responded by reducing their profit margins so Roquefort could stay competitive. The Bush administration appeared to be miffed that, by some measures, U.S. sales of Roquefort have actually risen slightly under the 100% tariff. As Hamel complained, "Imports of Roquefort cheese have continued since 1999, notwithstanding the imposition of 100% duties. We expect that a 300% duty will have the desired effect on imports."

The EU Ban on US Beef Treated With Growth Hormones

The proximate rationale for the move was to penalize the European Union’s ban since 1988 on imports from the U.S. and Canada of beef injected with growth hormones. In 1999, the World Trade Organization ruled that the ban was not supported by science and authorized the U.S. to take EU-targeted trade actions worth $116.8 million annually, equal to the trade loss from the ban on American beef. Roquefot was on the 1999 list requiring a 100% tariff.

Roquefort at $60 – 100 per Pound?

What if talks don’t reverse the 300% Tariff? Liz Thorpe of Murray’s Cheese in Manhattan crunches the numbers for us:

Before the tariff increase, “Roquefort costs 11 Euros/kilo, or 5.00 Euros/pound. Then we take a small hammering on our currency, so that 5.90 E becomes $6.50/pound

We have to transport it from southern France to the port of Le Havre, where it's loaded onto a refrigerated container for a transatlantic boat ride. Harbor fees, customs entry and transport tack on $1.40/pound. So the Roquefort is now $7.90/pound.

And then there's the import tariff. At 100%, the cost of the Roquefort doubles to $15.80. Roquefort is suddenly $25.99-$36.99/pound at the cheese counter, when it could have been $19.99/ pound MAXIUM.

The 300% tariff that goes into effect on March 22 will turn the cost of that very same cheese from $7.90/pound to $31.60/pound, and typical retails in the $60/pound range.”

If that’s not scary enough, others have estimate the price could hit $100/pound.

Go here to learn the response from the French and from the not-quite-post-Bush Americans. The Obama administration has a lot on its plate at the moment. Will they reverse this prohibitive tariff?

The copyright of the article How Can Roquefort Survive a 300% Tariff? in French Cuisine is owned by Larry Ervin. Permission to republish How Can Roquefort Survive a 300% Tariff? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.