About us

EU Trade Commissioner Malmstrom said that the United States unilaterally imposed a tariff on steel and aluminum, so that the EU "has no choice." However, if the United States cancels the measures, the EU will cancel the retaliatory tariffs accordingly.

At the same time that Sino-US trade frictions have risen, trade disputes between the United States and the European Union have escalated. The EU announced that it will impose tariffs on US products worth about 2.8 billion euros (about $3.3 billion) from June 22. This is the first wave of counter-measures after the EU imposed a tariff on steel and aluminum for the United States. A range of US products, including jeans, motorcycles, and whisky, related to US heavyweight congressional constituencies, are among the hits in the EU's retaliatory tax collection list. The European Commission also said that this approach has received "unanimous support" from EU member states.

“We don’t want to go this step,” said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström in the communique. “But the unilateral and unreasonable decision of the United States to impose a tariff on steel and aluminum in the EU means We have no other choice.” Malmstrom said that the EU’s counter-measures “fully conform to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, she also said that if the United States cancels the tariff on steel and aluminum in the EU, the EU will cancel the retaliatory tariff accordingly. Analysts pointed out that these products are "on the list" because they are mainly produced in the constituencies represented by the Republican heavyweights. At present, the global trade war ignited by the Trump administration has been extended to several of the most intimate allies in the United States, making multilateral trade conflicts happen.

Source: Caixin Net