While the West Coast labor dispute has monopolized traders' attention of late (you've probably learned enough about the Taft-Hartley Act to hang out a lawyer's shingle), few have noticed that trouble also is brewing on trans-Atlantic shipping lanes, where unresolved U.S.-EU trade disputes are piling up faster than containerships in Long Beach.

Retaliation against trade policies by the European Union (EU) or the United States could restrict shipments with little advance warning. For example, the steel import tariffs imposed by President Bush in March led the EU to file complaints at the World Trade Organization (WTO). They also provoked the publication of a long list of U.S. exports that the EU has targeted for 100-percent penalty tariffs, including fruits and vegetables, wood, paper, synthetic yarn and clothing, glassware, computer parts and toys. Articles that are targeted for retaliatory tariffs usually are chosen for their political effect rather than for their relationship to the dispute at hand (e.g., Florida citrus exports are listed on the EU steel retaliation list because of the Sunshine State's obvious importance to the president's electoral health). Although the United States has since lessened the sting of the steel tariffs by excluding numerous European steel products, that has not eliminated the potential for retaliation.

Similarly, a long-standing dispute over tax advantages for U.S. Foreign Sales Corporations reached a head in September after a WTO panel for the second time found that the U.S. law establishing such entities was unacceptable. That resulted in a new retaliation list covering $3.1 billion in U.S. trade. Add to that two recent WTO rulings on antidumping laws in favor of the EU and against the United States, blend in a healthy dose of congressional ambivalence about the WTO, and you have a recipe for supply chain disruption across the North Atlantic.

Although they can't prevent these policy-driven tariffs from being implemented, traders can take steps to protect themselves before the damage is done to U.S exports to or imports from Europe. Certainly, it is easier than ever to stay informed about threatened actions because proposed target items are published in advance on official Web sites by both the U.S. Trade Representative (www.ustr.gov) and the European Commission (www.europa.eu.int). WTO decisions that affect both U.S. and EU trade policies are reported in detail online (wto.org). But keep in mind that governments seldom give advance notice of the precise date when tariffs will be imposed, so don't expect a grace period for entering targeted goods.

If you know that there is potential for tariff retaliation on items you export or import, you can sometimes arrange for contractual protection in advance. For example, the buyer and seller could agree to split the cost of the penalty or provide for rescission of the sale and return of the goods.

If the worst happens—the penalty tariff is imposed before the goods arrive—there are actions you can take to reverse or at least delay the pain. Because retaliatory tariffs generally are assessed against the entry of goods "for consumption," the U.S. or European importer might enter the goods into a bonded warehouse or a foreign trade zone, in zone-restricted or privileged status, while awaiting favorable resolution of the dispute. It also could negotiate the return of the goods to the seller or find another export market. If you have been forced to pay a penalty tariff on imports into the United States, it is permissible under certain circumstances to re-export the same or substitute goods and claim unused merchandise drawback for refund of the duties. Keep in mind, however, that qualification for drawback depends upon numerous factors, including commercial interchangeability, documentation and time limitations.