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GOURMET NEWS FEBRUARY 2020 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 4 FROM THE EDITOR Greetings! At press time for this issue of Gourmet News and the Cheese Guide, we were waiting on a rul- ing from the U.S. Trade Representative's office, which announced in De- cember that more products may be sub- jected to tariffs on products imported into the country from the EU, and that a previ- ously imposed 25 percent tariff could be in- creased to as much as 100 percent. These tariffs are in retaliation for unlawful subsi- dies received by Airbus that have damaged Boeing's ability to compete in the world market and, now, to punish France for im- posing a digital services tax that would hit American technology companies. In one of 5,138 comments received by the USTR at press time, Philip Marfuggi, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Ambriola Company, Inc., outlined the specialty cheese industry's case opposing the tariffs. He pointed out that the pro- posed tariff increase may not even bring in the revenue that the Trump administration expects, since American cheese importers won't be able to sell as much cheese at the higher prices that consumers would see in their stores, so the importers won't be bringing as much into the country. He added that if European cheese producers can't sell their product in the United States, they'll be forced to sell elsewhere in the world at lower prices, which would also drive down the price that American cheese- makers that export their cheese to Europe could command there. American workers employed at the cheese importers' and distributors' facilities could be among the victims of the higher tariffs, according to Marfuggi, who esti- mated that 26 full-time and part-time em- ployees of The Ambriola Company could lose their jobs. A minimum of 20 to 25 sales representatives employed by the sales agencies that carry the cheeses imported by Ambriola would also lose their jobs, Marfuggi said in his comment to the USTR. Carol Johnson commented to the USTR that she's a small business owner in New York City who specializes in imported cheese and meat who may be forced out of business by the tariffs. "I work everyday to make a small margin on what is already a premium cost item, taking home half of minimum wage at the end of the month," she said in her comment, adding that the tariffs will also drive up prices for Ameri- can cheeses because incremental shipping costs will be increased due to the lower vol- ume of cheeses being transported. Wine retailers are just as fearful of the ef- fect of the tariffs on the prices for their im- ported products. "The proposed additional tariffs on European wine and food products will absolutely cause immediate and lasting harm to my business and hundreds of thousands of others, adversely impacting millions of American workers and hun- dreds of millions of American consumers," commented Dan Davis. "This is a tax on AMERICANS and will do no lasting good for those who will bear the burden of the tax. Make no mistake - American small businesses will go OUT OF BUSINESS if these tariffs are implemented." I sure wish I had better news for you, but at the time I write this, we're just a few days away from the close of the comment period on the tariff hike, and then we'll just have to wait for the announcement from the USTR. GN — Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director FROM THE EDITOR G OURMET N EWS ® OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP FOUNDER Lee M. Oser MEMBER OF: Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ, and additional mailing office. 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