US economy

EU plans tariffs on $12bn in US exports amid deepening trade row


Brussels is seeking punitive tariffs on $12bn worth of US exports in retaliation for unfair state support for Boeing, a move that follows a similar threat by Washington against European rival aircraft maker Airbus amid intensifying transatlantic trade tensions.

The European Commission is drafting a list of US products that could be targeted, as it is entitled to do after the World Trade Organization ruled last month that Washington had failed to comply with an order to halt illegal tax breaks to the US aircraft manufacturer, according to EU diplomats.

The plan comes days after Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to hit $11bn of EU products with extra tariffs as a consequence of the WTO ruling against aid granted to Airbus.

The US president took to Twitter this week to warn that “the EU has taken advantage of the US on trade for many years. It will soon stop.”

EU diplomats fear that the WTO battle over Boeing and Airbus, which dates back to 2004, is becoming caught up in broader transatlantic trade tensions. Since he took office in 2017, Mr Trump has targeted European steel imports — leading to EU countermeasures — and repeatedly threatened to hit the European auto sector, a move that would spark a trade war.

The EU is set on Monday to endorse the start of trade talks with Washington that it is hoped will calm the situation, but the plans are already imperilled by US insistence that agriculture be included within the scope of any deal.



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