The European Union member states voted on April 9 in favor of the European Commission's proposal to impose trade countermeasures against the United States.
Points of attention
- European Union member states have approved countermeasures in response to US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, potentially affecting goods worth billions of euros.
- The EU is set to impose new tariffs on American goods such as soybeans, motorcycles, and orange juice, with the possibility of lifting them if a fair compromise is reached with the US.
EU to impose new tariffs on American goods
The European Commission's proposal concerns the US decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the EU, announced in March.
Although the European Commission has not yet specified the details of the tariff measures against the US, according to media reports, they will cover goods worth 21-22 billion euros. These include soybeans, motorcycles and orange juice — goods associated primarily with Republican US states.
At the same time, Bloomberg claims, bourbon did not find a place in the final list — presumably due to pressure from EU wine-producing countries after Trump threatened 200 percent tariffs on European wines.
The European Union tariffs will begin to be levied on April 15, after the legal aspects of the decision are completed and it is officially published.
The EU considers the US tariffs unjustified and harmful, causing economic harm to both parties, as well as to the global economy. The EU has clearly stated that it prefers to achieve a balanced and mutually beneficial outcome in the negotiations with the US, the EC stressed.
They also indicated that they were ready to suspend countermeasures "at any time if the US agrees to a fair and balanced outcome of the negotiations."
It should be noted that the EU's countermeasures do not yet apply to Trump's introduction of 20 percent "reciprocal" tariffs on all exports from the European Union, which took effect on Wednesday, as well as his recent 25 percent tariff on cars.
By the way, Hungary turned out to be the only European Union country that did not support the introduction of tariffs in response to the United States' customs measures against steel and aluminum imports from the EU.
