The EU on Friday published a list of US products that it plans to introduce duties on if the 28-nation bloc is not exempted from US President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
The list contains dozens of products including breakfast foods, kitchenware, clothing, washing machines, textiles, whiskey, motorcycles, boats and batteries.
They are worth about 2.8 billion euros (US$3.4 billion) in trade annually, but the list could grow to the equivalent of 6.4 billion euros once the full extent of the impact of US tariffs is known.
The European Commission, which negotiates trade matters on behalf of member countries, gave European industry stakeholders 10 days to object if they fear that any products targeted for “rebalancing” tariffs would hurt their business.
Trump last week announced that he was imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. He temporarily exempted big steel producers Canada and Mexico, provided they agree to renegotiate a North American trade deal to his satisfaction.
He said other countries could be spared as well if they can convince Washington that their exports do not threaten US industry.
The tariffs are set to enter force next week.
The EU believes that it too should be exempted and rejects Trump’s assertion that the tariffs are needed for national security and are simply protectionist measures. Most EU countries are US allies in the world’s biggest security organization, NATO.
In Washington on Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders commented on the EU tariff list.
“The president’s going to continue fighting for the American worker. He’s also working with a number of individual countries and negotiating on areas of national security where we can work together, and there’s some flexibility there,” she said. “We’re continuing to have those conversations.”
European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom is to hold talks next week with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
Malmstrom met in Brussels on Saturday last week with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to discuss the tariffs and the exemption procedures.
She said she got “no immediate clarity on the exact US procedure.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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