Bananas, the longest transatlantic dispute in the World Trading System : a post-mortem

Abstract

This paper revisits the celebrated conflict that lasted close to two decades and pitted the EU against the US and against MFN suppliers of bananas. This was a classic clash about the appropriation of large rents. The paper starts by recalling the major turning points in the dispute and argues that the EU-US conflict could largely be explained by the changing landscape on trade-policy making on both sides of the Atlantic. As to the EU-MFN grower dispute, as shown in the discussion of estimates put forth by the parties at conflict, it is largely explained by uncertainty on the distribution of quota rents and on the reluctance to use economic analysis in the panel decisions.