USTR keeps oats off list of EU import duty hikes

USTR keeps oats off list of EU import duty hikes    The U.S. Trade Representative has agreed to take oats off its list of European Union products to be hit with increased duties, starting March 1.
   The retaliation list is in response to an EU decision to raise duties on brown rice imports. The United States failed to negotiate the elimination of the hiked EU rice import duties.
   The Washington-based North American Millers’ Association (NAMA) asked the USTR to remove oats from the retaliation list. The group pointed out that oat imports from either Canada or the EU supply nearly half of the oat use in the United States, and up to 90 percent of food uses.
   “The USTR decision to remove oats from the retaliation list protects the oat milling industry from disruptions in the oat market that would limit the industry’s ability to provide American consumers with a basic staple food that is wholesome and affordable,” NAMA said in a statement Monday.
   NAMA has 48 member companies operating 170 wheat, corn, oat and rye mills in 38 states and Canada. The aggregate production capacity of NAMA’s membership is more than 160 million pounds of product daily, which is about 95 percent of the total U.S. capacity.