AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Roughly half of Dutch cheese exports to the United States will be affected by a 25% tariff Washington has threatened to slap on European food products, the Dutch Trade Ministry said on Friday.
The Netherlands, the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter after the United States, exported 80 million euros worth of cheese to the United States last year.
Around 39 million euros worth of cheese destined for U.S. markets will fall under the new 25% tariff set to be implemented on Oct. 18, the ministry said in a statement.
Other countries have also complained that their cheese exports would be hurt.
On Wednesday the World Trade Organization awarded Washington the right to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of EU goods annually in a long-running case, threatening to ignite a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war.
The United States on Wednesday said it would slap 10% tariffs on European-made Airbus planes and 25% duties on French wine, Scotch and Irish whiskies, and cheese from across the continent as punishment for illegal EU aircraft subsidies.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; editing by Gareth Jones)
