TARIFF DISPUTE: EU set to retaliate against US imports

Plans by the European Union to retaliate in kind against the US over its imposition of tariffs last week will come into effect this Friday, reports say.

The EU had earlier unanimously endorsed a plan to impose high import duties on a list of US products in response to US tariff hikes on steel and aluminum imports from Canada.

“We did not want to be in this position. However, the unilateral and unjustified decision of the United States to impose steel and aluminium tariffs on the EU means that we are left with no other choice,” EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said.

Read also: Court in Iraq orders arrest of 4 suspects over burning of ballot boxes

Recall that from the start of June, the EU was hit by tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium imports imposed by US President Donald Trump, who justified the move on the grounds of national security.

Trump has also threatened fresh imposition of $200 billion worth of tarrifs on Chinese imports as a possible trade war looms even larger.

The US President says he wants additional tariffs set at 10 percent rate if China refuses to change ‘unfair practices’ as the two nations moved closer to a wider tariff dispute.

 

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