Copa and Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said “We are very concerned that this could escalate and have a negative impact on the EU agriculture sector when we are talking about a trade dispute with the USA on imports of steel and aluminum. This dispute could hit the EU and USA agriculture sectors hard which is the last thing we need. The USA is a major client for EU agri-food products. We have a stable trade relationship with them on agriculture which we do not want to jeopardise. We call for moderation in the talks between the two sides to ensure that farmers do not end up paying the price of politics”.
“This comes on top of the decision by the U.S. Department of Trade to impose taxes on Spanish olive imports, which clearly amounts to protectionism”, Pesonen concluded.
