European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič warned on Tuesday that the United States might impose new tariffs on European exports, targeting up to 97 per cent of exported goods.
In addition to an ongoing investigation on lumber, the U.S. administration recently opened six further investigation to determine the effect of imports on national security, said Šefčovič.
The additional targeted sectors include pharmaceutical products, semiconductors, critical minerals, and trucks and truck parts, he said, addressing the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg.
If all these investigations lead to additional tariffs, 97 per cent of EU exports to the U.S. would be subject to import duties representing a trade volume of 549 billion euros (622.8 billion dollars).
“The situation as such is not acceptable, and we cannot afford to stay idle,” Šefčovič said.
The trade commissioner reiterated the EU’s ambition to find a negotiated solution with the U.S.
“We now need the U.S. to show its readiness to make progress towards a fair and balanced solution,’’ he said.
In addition to pursuing talks, Brussels was “preparing for litigation to preserve and reinforce the multilateral rules-based trading system’’, Šefčovič said, and accelerating free-trade negotiations with other global trading partners.
“The U.S. represents 13per cent of global trade.
“It’s a lot. But we must not forget about the remaining 87 per cent,” he said.
In April U.S., President Donald Trump had paused special levies on imports from most trading partners including the EU for 90 days.
This prompted the bloc to suspend its planned countervailing tariffs to allow for further talks.
dpa/NAN
