The European Union is planning to place tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of U.S. goods in retaliation for the Trump administration’s announcement Thursday that it is going ahead with tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from Europe, Mexico, and Canada.
Mexico, which will be hit with the Trump administration’s tariffs as well, said it was planning its own counter-measures.
The EU tariffs would target items produced in Republican-leaning states such as motorcycles and tobacco and agricultural products such as cranberry juice and peanut butter, in an effort to put maximum pressure on President Trump’s administration.
“The United States now leaves us with no choice but to proceed with a WTO dispute settlement case and with the imposition of additional duties on a number of imports from the United States,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
The Mexican government said it was planning its own tariffs against the U.S., mainly hitting farm and agricultural goods. “Mexico will impose measures equivalent to various products such as flat steel, lamps, legs and pork shoulders, sausages and food preparations, apples, grapes, blueberries, various cheeses, among others, up to a comparable amount,” Mexican Economic Minister Ildefonso Guajardo tweeted.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday that tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum would go into effect Friday, following two months of wrangling between U.S. and EU officials to resolve the dispute. The White House said its tariffs had “already had major, positive effects on steel and aluminum workers.”
European leaders expressed frustration that the administration was moving ahead with the tariffs rather than continuing negotiations. “It’s entirely up to U.S authorities whether they want to enter into a trade conflict with their biggest partner, Europe,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters Thursday following a meeting with Ross.
German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported Thursday that Trump had told French President Emmanuel Macron that his goal was to stop European cars such as Mercedes-Benz from being seen driving through New York City.
