The EU opened a fresh front in the transatlantic battle over trade yesterday when it sought permission from the World Trade Organisation to impose retaliatory sanctions worth millions of dollars on the US.
Infuriated by an illegal US law allowing American companies to keep the proceeds of punitive tariffs levied on cheap foreign goods, the EU has joined four other WTO members in threatening retaliation.
The WTO judged the law in breach of world trade rules last January and gave Washington until the end of December to repeal the Byrd amendment. But in the face of strong support for the law from corporate America and Congress, the administration has failed to comply.
The Guardian.