On Monday, 16 December, a number of EU agriculture ministers expressed their concerns about the United States' plans to impose new sanctions on EU agricultural products, in the form of tariffs (see EUROPE 12390/9).
In addition to the customs duties of 25% applied to specific EU agricultural products as part of the trade dispute involving Airbus, the United States published a new document on 6 December in which it recommended possibly revising the list of tariffs and the amounts that have already been applied (see EUROPE 12385/3).
Luis Planas, the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, said there were rumours circulating that the United States was considering applying tariffs to other European products and that, on 6 December, it stated that it wanted to review the list of products that were subject to sanctions. “We expect the Commission to respond firmly”, he said, stating that the aid announced so far (for olive oil and wine) is not sufficient. He has therefore requested additional aid to support the sectors affected.
France and Spain condemned the loss of competitiveness for the EU agricultural sector, the loss of markets for exporters and the loss of income for European farmers.
Didier Guillaume, the French Agriculture Minister, said that French winegrowers should receive assistance, as the loss in this sector is estimated at 300 million euros. The American measures are designed “to divide Europeans”, he said. France has recommended that exceptional aid be set up in the form of a compensation fund.
The United Kingdom has also criticised the measures put in place by the US, and a number of countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, and Denmark) have asked the Commission to find a negotiated solution with the US.
Italy said that it was a matter of regret that the EU does not have the mechanisms to react to such situations. Greece fears “a worsening of the situation”.
Germany believes Europe should wait and see the extent to which the American sanctions disrupt European markets before considering compensation measures.
Hungary stated that the EU should be prepared to apply “countermeasures”, if it needs to.
Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski replied that the Commission is closely monitoring the impact of American sanctions on the agricultural sector, “in order to assess the potential need for specific measures”.
The Commission is opening up alternative markets through free trade agreements (Japan, Mexico, and Mercosur). The Commission “is actively pursuing discussions with the United States in order to find a negotiated solution on Airbus subsidies that would allow the sanctions to be lifted and an end put to the dispute at the WTO”, said the Commissioner. Mr Wojciechowski finished by saying that, in the absence of a negotiated solution, the EU reserves the right to apply sanctions to American products once the WTO has decided how much the EU is allowed in the Boeing case (in Spring 2020). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)