Roquefort relief over trade deal

US drops threat to raise duty on the cheese by 300% as both sides call ceasefire in trans-Atlantic food fight.

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ROQUEFORT cheese will not be subjected to a 300% duty charge after the EU and US reached a new deal over beef trade.

Earlier this year the US had threatened to slap high tariffs on EU goods, including the French cheese, over the Union’s continued block on hormone-treated beef.

The EU has agreed to almost quadruple its duty-free quota for non-hormone treated beef.

In return the US will not place any retaliatory tariffs for three years and remove all those it has already invoked in the forth year.

During this period a long-term agreement will be reached.

The EU banned imports of US beef treated with growth-hormones in 1988.

Photo:Commons/Nataraja

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