Roquefort Files

Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France, January 31, 2009:

This seems an unlikely spot to fight a trade war.

A village of 600 souls in a remote part of southern France, Roquefort clings precariously to the side of Combalou Rock, a promontory overlooking a deep valley where sheep graze in the shadow of limestone cliffs that were sheared off by a seismic jolt in prehistoric times.

But the primal shake also carved out aerated underground crevasses that give a unique economic value to this jagged landscape about 65 miles northwest of Montpellier.

They make possible a gastronomical wonder that has delighted gourmets for centuries: Roquefort cheese. And now, in an era of globalized competition for trade, the smelly delicacy and its little hometown have become ground zero for the warriors of export-import in Washington.

The United States, it turns out, has declared war on Roquefort cheese.

In its final days, the Bush administration imposed a 300 percent duty on Roquefort, in effect closing off the U.S. market. Americans, it declared, will no longer get to taste the creamy concoction.

The measure, announced January 13 by U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab as she headed out the door, was designed as retaliation for a European Union ban on imports of U.S. beef containing hormones.

American politician Ron was caught in a precarious position by this announcement. On one hand, Ron is a lover of all cheeses. But on the other hand, he has a massive distrust of the French.

"I don't know quite where my allegiances lie in this situation," said a visibly upset Ron outside of his local cheese shop in Jersey City, NJ. "I gotta think this through over some beers." It should be noted that Ron had a Spanish Manchego cheese under one arm and an American flag pin on his lapel.

To cheese producers and sheep farmers around Roquefort, the U.S. action unfairly undermines not only the economy of Roquefort, which depends entirely on cheese, but also the well-being of the 4,500 people who herd special ewes on 2,100 farms producing milk for Roquefort in a carefully defined oval grazing area across the Larzac Plain and up and down nearby hills and valleys.

"This measure is completely out of proportion," said Robert Glandieres, a sheep farmer who heads the Regional Federation of Ewe Raisers' Unions. "It's a little bit of a provocation."

"I worry about the poor ewes that make the glorious cheese," said Ron. "But I don't give a rat's ass about the [expletive] French farmers who herd and milk them," he added.

It would not be the first provocation in the history of the Roquefort war. The United States first imposed unusual 100 percent tariffs on Roquefort in 1999, when the dispute with the European Union over hormoned-up beef first got nasty.

Several years later, then-President Jacques Chirac added to the irritation in Washington with his criticism of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It was the time of "freedom fries" in the United States and of disdain for things French, including Roquefort.

Since then, President Nicolas Sarkozy has tried to put U.S.-French relations back on a more friendly footing.

But Glandieres said residual irritation may have been at work in the U.S. trade representative's office when the decision was made to triple the tax on Roquefort. He also acknowledged that the French government, with its own beef industry to promote, did nothing to help, having led the charge against U.S. beef in Europe.

Despite the ill feelings, Roquefort producers went out of their way to preserve a place in the U.S. market even after the 100 percent tax was imposed. Milk producers and cheesemakers alike took revenue cuts to keep prices down for U.S.-bound exports.

As a result, by some measures, U.S. sales rose slightly despite the punitive duty.

Glandieres said the only recourse now is diplomacy. In that spirit, Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier recently called the tariff rate "unjustified" but said he hoped to open a new dialogue with the United States.

"Right now I'm spending more American dollars for the same French taste," stated Ron. "We need to lower domestic prices while not giving in to those despicable Frogs. It's quite the [expletive] conundrum."

Posted by Bittle at January 31, 2009 07:14 AM