The EU has published revised levels of ‘smart sanctions’ on US products in response to the US’s failure to repeal the Byrd Amendment, despite a ruling by the WTO.

The sanction takes the form of a 15% additional duty which will come into effect on May 1. The overall retaliation levels and products targeted are revised annually to reflect disbursements from the previous year. The level of retaliation will rise to $81.19 million in 2007 from the $36.91 million applied since May 1, 2006.

32 new products will be added to the list of items subject to the 15% additional import duty, including textile products and footwear.

In total, more than $380 million was distributed under the Byrd Amendment in 2006. $113 million of this came from duties collected on EU products and paid to US competitors.