For the past few years the United States has applied special tariffs to, of all things, imports of chilled or frozen lamb meat. In May the World Trade Organization ruled that the tariffs were inconsistent with the WTO agreement and gave the United States 60 days to lift the tariffs.
Almost all lamb meat imports come from Australia and New Zealand. In order to protect farmers who claim they can’t compete with the imports, the United States imposed a 9 percent tariff in 1999, a 6 percent tariff in 2000, and a 3 percent tariff in 2001. Those tariffs, however, were for an initial quota. Lamb imports beyond the quota were taxed at a rate beginning at 40 percent in 1999 and falling to 24 percent this year.
A country such as the United States, which complains that developing nations hurt their economic prospects through protectionist tariffs for local industries, has no excuse for such blatant protectionism.
Source:
WTO urges US to lift lamb tariffs. The BBC, May 2, 2001.