EU targets American aircraft, car parts for possible tariffs if talks fail

The EU will file a complaint with the World Trade Organisation over Donald Trump’s imposition of swingeing tariffs on European goods.

The EU listed all the products it could target including US-made aircraft, cars, human hair, nuts and fruit, plastics, chemicals and electrical equipment. Picture: AFP

The European Union said it could target American cars, car parts, airplanes and other products with tariffs if negotiations with the US break down.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, on Thursday released a fresh list of about 95 billion euros worth of American products that it says could face tariffs, equivalent to about $US107 billion ($167bn). The commission will consult with member states and industries about the potential targets before finalizing its list, which could be trimmed during that process.

The list also includes American chemicals and plastics, electrical equipment, health-related products, machinery and agricultural products. It puts American alcoholic beverages—including whiskey—back in the firing line after they were previously removed from an earlier list of potential targets.

The commission hasn’t yet decided what level of tariffs the products could face, an official said.

The move comes at a time of heightened tensions over trade, which have already roiled businesses and markets around the world. The EU’s decision to include aircraft is particularly bad news for embattled plane maker Boeing, which said last month that many of its customers in China had indicated they wouldn’t take deliveries of the company’s jets because of the trade conflict with the US.

Boeing declined to comment on the EU’s list. The Office of the US Trade Representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The EU is also weighing possible export restrictions for certain steel scrap and chemical products that are shipped to the US. Those exports are currently worth about 4.4 billion euros a year.

The steps announced Thursday are meant to respond to the Trump administration’s across-the-board tariffs and its sectoral duties on cars and car parts, the commission said. It said the proposed duties would only take effect if negotiations with the US don’t yield a mutually beneficial deal and the removal of US tariffs.

“The EU continues to prepare potential countermeasures to defend its consumers and industry, in parallel with the negotiations and in case these fail to deliver a satisfactory outcome,” the commission said.

The bloc’s list puts American alcoholic beverages—including whiskey—back in the firing line after they were previously removed from an earlier list of potential targets. Picture: Getty Images

It said it also plans to launch a World Trade Organization dispute against the US over its tariffs.

The EU previously approved a separate list of 21 billion euros worth of US imports it had planned to hit with tariffs, including boats, soybeans, peanut butter and beef. Those duties—intended to retaliate against President Trump’s metals tariffs—were put on hold last month after the Trump administration announced a 90-day pause on some US tariffs.

EU officials have said repeatedly that their goal is to reach a trade deal with the US that benefits both Americans and Europeans. They are also focusing on expanding trade with other countries, including through revamped trade negotiations.

Officials said Thursday that they are moving away from thinking about retaliatory tariffs as a temporary tool to press the US into negotiations and are preparing for the possibility that US duties might last a long time. “This is really about being prepared,” a senior EU official said.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen reiterated the bloc’s determination to reach a negotiated solution and avoid painful tariffs on both sides. Picture: AFP

In talks with the US, European officials have offered what they say is a positive trade agenda that could see Europe buy more American liquefied natural gas and soybeans. Officials have also suggested both sides could eliminate industrial tariffs on each others’ goods.

US tariffs currently cover about 380 billion euros worth of EU exports to the US, the commission has said, and could reach 549 billion euros if the Trump administration follows through on the additional sectoral tariffs it has threatened.

Wall Street Journal