A new series of US products has been targeted for potential EU tariffs including aerospace champion Boeing, in case negotiations with the US administration end in deadlock, the European Commission announced on Thursday.
“We believe there are good deals to be made for the benefit of consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,” Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement adding, however: “At the same time, we continue preparing for all possibilities.”
Since mid-March the US has imposed 25% tariffs on EU aluminium and steel, 25% on cars and a 10% blanket tariff on all EU imports.
US products that could be hit by the EU include agri-food products such as processed fruits, nuts, vegetables, as well as fish, industrial products such as automotives, electrical equipment, engines and machinery. The list also targets Boeing and Bourbon Whiskey.
The new retaliatory measures, if used by the EU, will add to the list of US products already hit by EU tariffs which were suspended after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause in the war waged against his trading partners around the world after threatening them with so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on 2 April, which would have hit EU imports with 20% tariffs.
US tariffs now cover 70% of EU exports to the US and could rise to 97% if further US investigations into pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and other products result in more tariffs.
The list of US products targeted by the EU will now be open to consultation by EU industries until 10 June, before approval by EU member states, as well as possible restrictions on certain EU exports of steel scrap and chemical products to the US worth €4.4 billion.
The level of EU tariffs that could hit the new list of US products will be decided at a later date.
On Thursday, the Commission also announced it will challenge the 10% blanket tariffs and tariffs on cars before the WTO.
US services are not threatened by Thursday’s proposed EU countermeasures, but an EU official said that all “options were on the table” if negotiations with the US fails.
EU top officials were in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, led by Sabine Weyand, chief of DG trade at the Commission, to meet their US counterparts. The discussion appear to have been fruitless, as no deal has been announced.
The EU official said that the EU was not presenting a “retaliation” package but was looking for a “rebalancing” of the trade relation with the US, if no deal was reached.
