23/10/2019 (Agence Europe) – Wilbur Ross, US Secretary of Commerce, has confirmed to the British newspaper Financial Times the possibility of a suspension of tariff sanctions on European cars. Last May, his department concluded that these imports represented a threat to the national security of the United States (see EUROPE 12350/17). According to Mr Ross, President Donald Trump could consider, as an alternative to sanctions, “some other form of negotiation”. On the Airbus issue, the Secretary of Commerce also suggested that a negotiated solution on tariff sanctions, applied in response to European support for Airbus, could be considered in 2020, once the WTO has given the green light to EU tariff sanctions in the dispute over their support for Boeing: a “net tariff” could be identified by subtracting Boeing’s customs duties from those of Airbus. (HD)