President Joe Biden closed another chapter on his predecessor’s trade disputes with the European Union by declining to appeal an adverse World Trade Organization ruling over American tariffs on Spanish olives.

During a WTO dispute meeting in Geneva on Monday, the U.S. agreed to adopt the ruling, which found the U.S. imposed illegal anti-subsidy duties on Spanish olives. Washington had the option of appealing it to the WTO’s—currently non-functional—appellate body.

The move sidesteps a potentially damaging fight with the EU and caps a year of transatlantic peacemaking on trade, which resulted in the suspension of tariffs on about $22 billion of two-way trade stemming from Trump-era disputes over steel and aluminum, and aircraft subsidies to Airbus SE and Boeing Co.

Had the U.S. appealed the ruling, it could have sparked a fresh trade spat between Washington and Brussels. The EU had previously pledged to use a new trade defense tool to retaliate against nations that effectively veto WTO rulings by appealing them into a legal void.

The U.S. will now roll back its countervailing duties, which are as high as 27%, on various Spanish olive producers, including Aceitunas Guadalquivir SLU; Agro Sevilla Aceitunas S. Coop. And.; and Angel Camacho Alimentacion SL, among others.

$500 Million Dispute

Spain is the world’s largest producer of the olives—used mainly as a topping for pizzas and salads—exporting 442 million euros ($500 million) worth in 2020.

The move may have a detrimental impact on America’s two largest domestic processors of ripe olives: Bell‐Carter Foods LLC and Musco Family Olive Co. Both companies had originally asked the Trump administration to impose the tariffs in 2017, citing harm from cheap, subsidized Spanish olives.

Representative Doug LaMalfa, a Republican from California, called on the Biden administration to maintain its tariffs on imports of Spanish olives.

“Without effective anti-dumping and countervailing duties, Spain’s heavily subsidized and dumped ripe olives would dominate the U.S. market and destroy the California-based industry, including many hundreds of family olive growers,” he said in a statement.

The U.S. can still maintain some tariff protection in the form of anti-dumping duties, which are as high as 25%, because the WTO found those tariffs did not violate U.S. international trade obligations.