Europe has increased a retaliatory tariff that it imposes on women’s blue jeans imported from the United States. As of May 1, the additional tariff, which is added to the already 12 per cent tariff on US denim pants, went from 0.35 per cent to 1.5 per cent. That makes the total EU tariff on women’s blue jeans imported from the United States rise to 13.5 per cent, compared with 12.35 per cent last year. The 1.5 per cent retaliatory tax is a pittance compared to the 26 per cent additional tariff imposed on US women’s denim pants on May 1, 2013.

The extra 26 per cent tariff was part of a trade dispute that centered around the Byrd amendment, by which the United States collected extra duties several years ago on EU- made items that were considered to be unfairly traded goods that affected US manufacturers. Even though the Byrd amendment was rescinded, the United States continued distributing the money collected under the Byrd amendment, to which the EU objected. Due to this, the World Trade Organization authorized the EU to increase tariffs on certain US items for a one-year period, with the option to renew the tariff—either increasing it or decreasing it.

Since the United States reduced by nearly 50 per cent the distribution of Byrd amendment duties, the EU decided in 2014 to reduce the extra denim tariff, which was costing some Los Angeles denim makers as much as 2,50,000 dollars during a six-month period.