WASHINGTON - The US government has threatened to impose new trade tariffs on European Union (EU) beer, chocolate, and olives as a dispute over EU subsidies to Airbus continues.
According to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the US is considering duties on a total of 30 EU products worth US$3.1 billion including clothes, gin, hardware products, and pastry and cakes. It has already imposed 15% to 25% tariffs on US$7.5 billion worth of EU goods.
As reported by the BBC, EU has warned that any additional tariff will inflict damage on American and European companies. “It creates uncertainty for companies and inflicts unnecessary economic damage on both sides of the Atlantic,” it said in an official statement as quoted from the BBC, Thursday (25/6).
“This is particularly the case as companies are now trying to overcome the economic difficulties in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis.”
The US has strongly opposed EU subsidies to Airbus before 2004 and claimed it created “an unfair advantage” over Boeing. Last year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the subsidies were illegal and allowed the US to impose tariffs on EU goods such as aircraft, cheese, and wines as a response.
However, the WTO is currently considering a parallel case against the US government’s allegedly illegal support for Boeing, which could result in the EU imposing tariffs on American goods as an act of retaliation later this year. (MS)