Because of a trade skirmish with the European Union involving bananas and beef, American horse owners and breeders may be paying more for their horse feed in the near future.

The American Horse Council (AHC) reports that the United States Trade Representative, which negotiates import-export issues with U.S. trading partners, has announced it intends to place a 100% tariff on various products imported from the European Union, including oats. The AHC has informed the USTR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture of the horse industry’s opposition to such a tariff.

“Obviously, oats make up a large part of a horse’s diet and an increase in this tariff would likely lead to a higher price paid by Americans. At a time when the economics of the horse industry are improving, we don’t want it stopped for trade reasons, particularly reasons that have nothing to do with our industry,” said Jay Hickey, AHC President.

It is not unusual for one country to impose or raise tariffs or other barriers to the importation of the products from another country in response to the imposition of similar barriers by that country. The USTR is proposing this action in response to the EU’s failure to follow favorable rulings by the World Trade Organization regarding the importation of U.S. bananas into EU countries and the current EU ban on the importation of U.S. beef