Question-and-Answer Session
We have any questions?
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. Our first question comes from Jeff Zekauskas from J.P. Morgan. Please proceed.
Jeffrey Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
Hi. Good morning.
Unidentified Company Representative
Good morning, Jeff.
Jeffrey Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
Can you quickly talk about the foreign tax item? Did that relate to prior periods or to the current period?
Unidentified Company Representative
We establish a reserve several years ago for a tax audit related to a European entity and there is further clarity on that audit and it appears that our liability will be materially less than we had originally were concerned.
Jeffrey Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
Thank you. In you performance product area, what was the volume contraction level in the United States in the quarter and can you talk about how that the entire segment is performing in April?
Unidentified Company Representative
Roughly the decline in the U.S. markets were in the order of 10% that we... the offset that you see in the volume is coming from places like Europe and the Middle East and Asia.
Jeffrey Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
And how did April go for that segment as a whole.
Unidentified Company Representative
April isn't over.
Jeffrey Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
Well, you guys have SAP right so you could track it on a daily basis. Do you have a good idea?
Unidentified Company Representative
Jeff generally as we look at this business through the March quarter, the relationships that we talked about, Europe still having some fairly strong demand as well as Asia and the U.S. market being down, that relationship does not change. So I think as you look forward, we have seen in this business as well and it should be stronger in this quarter coming but the softness in U.S. is still there but we are still seeing strength in Europe and Asia.
Jeffrey Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
In terms of acquisitions, has Ashland come close to making any acquisitions or are you far away from making them, sort of how do you stand and what's the size that you are currently looking at?
Unidentified Company Representative
The situation has not changed since the last call and we are still looking at acquisitions, the $100 million to $500 million as being our primary target, although we would consider larger ones if they would create shareholder value. As far as our ability to execute these transactions we have as we stated several opportunities that we have evaluated fully and we would execute them given the right sort of negotiated deal but again it all is determinant on the creation of shareholder value and that will be the basic determinant of whether something gets done or not.
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