E.U. Responds to U.S. Tariffs With Duties on Products Worth €2.8B
The European Union announced Wednesday that it will impose duties on a list of U.S. products, worth approximately €2.8 billion, in response to the U.S.’s steel and aluminum tariffs. The 25% duty will go into effect Friday, June 22.
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The U.S.’s 25% duty on steel imports and 10% duty on aluminum imports went into effect after the U.S. announced at the end of May that it would not continue the temporary exemptions from the tariffs for the E.U., Canada and Mexico.
The list of U.S. products that will be subjected to the tariffs includes steel and aluminum products, in addition to agricultural goods and a “combination of other various products.” Other products subject to the duty include bourbon, motorcycles and orange juice. (A full list of the products is available here.)
“By putting these duties in place the EU is exercising its rights under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules,” a release on the European Commission’s website states.
Echoing previous comments, E.U. Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom alluded to the rules of international trade in justification of the move.
“We did not want to be in this position,” Malmstrom said in a prepared statement. “However, the unilateral and unjustified decision of the US to impose steel and aluminium tariffs on the EU means that we are left with no other choice. The rules of international trade, which we have developed over the years hand in hand with our American partners, cannot be violated without a reaction from our side. Our response is measured, proportionate and fully in line with WTO rules. Needless to say, if the US removes its tariffs, our measures will also be removed.”
The E.U. duties on U.S. goods will be “effective for as long as the US measures are in place, in line with the WTO Safeguards Agreement and EU legislation,” according to the release.
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“The EU will rebalance bilateral trade with the US taking as a basis the value of its steel and aluminium exports affected by the US measures,” the statement continues. “Those are worth €6.4 billion. Of this amount, the EU will rebalance on €2.8 billion worth of exports immediately. The remaining rebalancing on trade valued at €3.6 billion will take place at a later stage – in three years’ time or after a positive finding in WTO dispute settlement if that should come sooner.”
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