Don’t mess with their cheese!  The French are apparently quite upset and possibly, rightly so.  According to a recent article in Le Monde, just before the Bush Administration left office, the United States ‘closed its market to Roquefort’ by imposing prohibitive tariffs on the famous cheese in retaliation against the continuing European ban on marketing American hormone-filled beef.  The new American sanctions mention several European products, but Roquefort is the only product to see its import tariff tripled.  As of March 23rd, it will be taxed 300%.  These new tariffs won’t probably hurt the French too much though as US imports only account for 2% of their production, but in any case, not only does it not seem fair to them, French authorities have labeled this American shot as ‘unjustified’, ‘inadmissible’ and ’scandalous’.  In all fairness to the American authorities, a World Trade Organization ruling last year determined that American and Canadian sanctions against European products were legal.  However, the European Commission begs to differ.  Let us know if you see a price hike on Roquefort or other European products including fruit and legumes, meat, mushrooms, cereal, chewing gum, chocolate, chestnuts, fruit juice and mineral water at your local supermarket!
In the meantime, remember to always cut your Roquefort or other cheese in equal slices or you could also risk offending the French.  

You can read the article in French by clicking here.