EU announces a list of products likely to retaliate against the United States for imposing steel and aluminium tariffs

Release time：Jun 28, 2019 From：admin

The European Commission announced in an announcement on the 18th that it had informed the World Trade Organization of a list of products that might impose tariffs on the United States in the future. If the measures taken by the United States to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium in the European Union came into effect, the European Union would take retaliatory measures.

The EU said retaliatory measures were intended to compensate the EU in the same way for the impact of the US imposition of steel and aluminium tariffs. Once the measures taken by the EU came into effect, they would be effective safeguards. Before informing the WTO, the EU has published the list of retaliation in the Official Gazette of the EU, which may take effect on June 20.

The EU believes that this announcement is a procedural step for the EU to safeguard its own rights and interests within the framework of WTO. It will not immediately impose tariffs on US imports, but it will fully comply with the relevant WTO rules once it is launched in the future.

U.S. President Trump announced on March 8 that the United States decided to impose 25% and 10% tariffs on imported steel and aluminium products, respectively, because imported steel and aluminium products endanger the "national security" of the United States.

The White House agreed on March 22 to temporarily exempt steel and aluminium tariffs on the European Union, Argentina and other economies until May 1, in order to negotiate with these economies on ways to deal with global steel and aluminium overcapacity.

Due to the failure to reach an agreement, the United States announced on April 30 that it would extend the steel and aluminium tariff exemption period of the European Union, Canada and Mexico for another month to June 1, and the parties would continue to negotiate for the last 30 days.

The EU believes that its steel and aluminium exports do not pose a security threat to the United States and should be granted an unconditional permanent exemption.