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BCN-22
EU-US-TRADE-STEEL-TARIFFS
EU trade chief says Trump won’t drop steel tariffs
STRASBOURG, France, May 30, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The EU’s top trade official
said Tuesday it was unrealistic to hope that the Trump administration could
permanently exempt the EU from steel and aluminium tariffs before they kick
in on June 1.
EU countries have tried to woo the US away from punishing steel and
aluminium tariffs and win Europe a similar break as handed to China.
Europe was hit by the shock tariffs in March, part of the protectionist US
president’s threat of an “America First” trade war with Washington’s closest
partners, including Canada, Mexico and Japan.
Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told European Parliament deputies
that even if the US refrained at the last minute from applying duties, “I
expect them nonetheless to want to impose some sort of caps on EU exports”.
A “hard cap” allowing no further exports beyond a quota would be worse for
the EU than a “soft cap”, under which exports would still be possible beyond
the limit but subject to duties, she said.
Malmstrom said ideally there would be no tariffs or quotas at all “but
realistically I don’t think we can hope for that”.
The European Union has said it refuses all trade talks with the United
States unless Washington grants a permanent exemption from the painful
tariffs.
Europe has threatened to retaliate with European tariffs on American
imports, including iconic items such as Harley-Davidson motorbikes and
bourbon whiskey.
These counter-measures will officially become enforceable on June 20, but
Europeans have committed to not use them as long as talks with the US are
ongoing.
Malmstrom is to meet with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Paris on
Wednesday on the margins of a meeting of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development in Paris, the European Commission said.
BSS/AFP/HR/1035