A cheese store in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM--Gouda and Edam cheese have not been included in a list of imports to the United States facing extra import duty after all.
The US announced a string of European products which will be subject to an extra import tax of 25 per cent on Wednesday evening, but the Dutch cheeses were not on the finalised list, although they had been included in an earlier version.
The measures will be introduced on October 18, and cover items as diverse as whiskey, ham and mussels. Dutch yoghurt and other dairy products as well as ham will be affected by the tax increase.
The Netherlands exports some 60 million euros worth of cheese to the US every year.
It is unclear why the Dutch cheese has now been excluded from the extra tariffs. A spokesman for the Dutch dairy industry lobby group GemZu told Dutch public broadcaster NOS that it may be due to US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra being appointed honorary weighmaster to Gouda’s cheese market last year.
Most of the goods on the target list come from France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The tariffs are part of a 15-year dispute between the US and the European Union over illegal subsidies for airplane makers Airbus and Boeing.
Gouda and Edammer cheese are not protected names and the cheese styles are also widely made in Germany and the US itself.
