For several weeks now, MEPs have been asking the European Commission what it plans to do to protect European interests in the face of the US tariff announcements. The Commission wants to discuss as much as possible with the Americans before responding. It is not in a position to provide the European Parliament with details of the potential measures in preparation. At least, that was the message delivered by Leopoldo Rubinacci, deputy director general of the European Commission's DG Trade, to members of Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) on Wednesday 19 February.
The European Commission representative gave some details of the first measure adopted by the new US administration, namely the increase in tariffs on steel and aluminium. “The scope of these products is actually going to be wider than the scope of the current Section 232 measures, because it will cover what the US calls ‘derivative US steel products’, which means basically more semi-finished and more downstream products”, explained Mr Rubinacci.
The impact of this decision on European businesses is currently being assessed, he said.
The MEPs were very concerned about the situation during the exchange and want to understand to what extent the Commission services are in contact with the US administration to resolve the problem. MEP Željana Zovko (EPP, Croatian) spoke of the European Commission’s “lack of strategic planning“ and called for a concrete roadmap for the coming weeks and months.
Leopoldo Rubinacci has repeatedly stated that the Commission is working hard to negotiate a mutually beneficial solution, which it favours over tariffs on both sides. The presence of European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič in Washington attests to this.
Asked several times about potentially using the ‘anti-coercion’ instrument, he said it was too early to talk about it: “I’m not in a position at this stage to tell you if we would use it or when and how. We have not reached this stage”.
US restrictions on exports of intelligent semiconductors.
Members of the INTA committee also took part in a specific exchange on the export restrictions imposed in January by former American president Joe Biden, which affect several European countries (see EUROPE 13557/4).
A number of elected representatives were surprised, even annoyed, that the Commission did not have more information on the reasons for these restrictions, which affect member countries differently. “The United States has simply not given us an explanation for their choice. I can assure you that we have put the question to our counterparts”, said the Commission representative.
Asked about the way forward, he explained that the Commission was trying to negotiate a solution and pointed out that the restrictions would only apply from mid-May. In addition, the American services are awaiting arbitration in the field of artificial intelligence, which is putting negotiations with the EU on hold, according to the Commission. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)