European
Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström responded on Friday to US President
Donald J. Trump’s actions on setting tariffs for steel aluminium imports by
telling journalists that the Berlaymont was seeking clarity on whether the bloc
would be counted alongside Canada and Mexico and be excluded from the tariffs
that Trump signed into law on March 8, adding that the bloc was ready to
retaliate if it turns out Europe is targeted by the measures.
Trump new
statute on aluminium and steel tariffs with see importing taxes on steel spike
to 25% tariff and 10% for aluminium. The White House seemed to back-pedal
slightly from its initial announcements earlier in the week, saying exemptions
could be given to US allies.
The
Commissioner said that the EU executive will ask for further information from
Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative when she meets with him in
Brussels on March 10.
According
to what has been discussed during this week Canada and Mexico would be
explicitly granted a temporary exemption, but it is not clear if this would be
the case for the EU as well. Malmström said that Brussels would wait for
answers before unleashing any retaliatory measures against the US.
“It is not
crystal clear about what Trump said yesterday, so we will have to seek further
clarity,” Malmström said. “We hope that we can get clarity that the EU is
excluded from this,” she added. “If not we have been clear that we don’t think
this is compatible with the WTO, so we will go to the WTO, possibly with some
other friends.”
If the EU
is not excluded from Trump’s actions, the European Commission has prepared a
draft list of retaliatory tariffs on €2.8 billion of US imports, from three
main categories, steel products, industrial products and agricultural products,
ranging from Harley motorbikes and American jeans to peanut butter and bourbon
whiskey.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/malmstrom-seeks-clarity-whether-eu-excluded-trumps-tariff-plan/