The European Union and the United States are preparing tariff retaliation measures in response to subsidies granted to the two aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.
Washington announced on Monday 8 April that it was preparing a list of products that could be subject to additional tariffs to put pressure on the Europeans until they withdraw these subsidies, announced a press release from the USTR, the office of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
According to Mr Lighthizer's office, European subsidies will cause $11 billion, or €9.8 billion, in damage to the US economy. This amount is subject to arbitration at the WTO: as soon as the result is published, expected this summer, the US administration will “respond immediately”, warned Mr Lighthizer, adding that after a 14-year long dispute, “the time has come for action”.
A long list
The Trade Representative proposes that appropriate measures include the imposition of additional ad valorem duties of up to 100% on products from the EU or certain Member States.
The list attached to the press release contains 317 tariff subheadings. The nine products listed in its Section 1, civil aviation products, are subject to additional duties if they are produced in Germany, France, the United Kingdom or Spain. The products listed in Section 2 of the Annex are subject to additional duties for a wide range of EU products ranging from fish to dairy products, clothing, paper, wine, industrial products and olive oils.
A public hearing on this list is scheduled for 15 May.
The EU is working on its response on Boeing
On 9 April, a European Commission spokesperson warned that the EU was also awaiting the outcome of the WTO arbitration in its dispute with the United States over subsidies to Boeing, which is also nearing completion.
They announced that the EU would also implement its rights to retaliatory tariff measures, suggesting a tariff war between the two sides.
To consult the list of products identified by the USTR: https://bit.ly/2KkEiag . (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)