In reaction to President Donald Trump’s new import taxes on steel and aluminum that took effect on Wednesday, the European Union is preparing to impose fresh duties on a variety of U.S. products next month.
According to EU officials, the breadth of their responses might be equivalent to the U.S. taxes on imported metal products, affecting approximately $28 billion worth of American goods.
By announcing that its 2018 and 2020 countermeasures will resume on April 1 instead of remaining halted, the 27-nation trade bloc is partially reverting to the approach it took in response to the initial Trump administration’s tariffs.
Additionally, the European Union is proposing a set of fresh remedies that would take effect in mid-April and target U.S. exports.
Similar to the previous Trump administration, high-profile products like American whiskey and motorcycles will be subject to hefty E.U. tariffs next month.
Read More : The S&P 500 approaches correction territory Tuesday as investors worry about Trump tariffs.
On Wednesday, shares of Jack Daniel’s whiskey parent company Brown Forman Corp. (BF.B) and motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson Inc. (HOG) were trading much lower.
From the June 2018 MarketWatch archives: When the European Union imposed tariffs, Harley-Davidson’s shares plummeted.
Also see (June 2019): Trump administration trade disputes hurt Jack Daniels’ dad
The E.U. imposes retaliatory taxes on hundreds of additional categories of U.S. goods. A 99-page list published by the trade group illustrates how a variety of items appear to be at risk of being affected.
Sweets like chewing gum and white chocolate, fruits like watermelons and navel oranges, unleavened bread goods like communion wafers and matzos, and a variety of meat products including bone-in beef and chicken breasts are all on the list.
Leather goods, wood products, microwaves and coffee machines, and tools like drills and chainsaws are also on the target list. (To view the complete 99-page list, go here.)
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, stated in a statement that she and other EU officials “always remain open to negotiation” before enforcing their remedies the next month.
“Tariffs are taxes.” “They hurt businesses, and they hurt consumers even more,” von der Leyen stated. “Supplies are being disrupted by these charges. They cause economic uncertainty. There are jobs on the line. Prices will increase. both in the United States and Europe. To safeguard businesses and consumers, the European Union must take action. We are taking tough but appropriate countermeasures today.
A senior Trump administration official on tariff policy, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, responded to the European Union’s retaliatory duties with a strong statement of his own. Using too-little-and-too-late steps, he claimed the trade bloc “has rejected attempts under successive U.S. administrations to cooperate effectively on dealing with global excess capacity on steel, aluminum, and other sectors.”
“If the E.U. acted as quickly to address global excess capacity as it does to punish the United States, we likely would be in a different situation today,” said Greer. “The E.U.’s punitive action completely disregards the national-security imperatives of the United States – and indeed international security – and is yet another indicator that the E.U.’s trade and economic policies are out of step with reality.”
On Wednesday, bumpy trading caused the major U.S. stock indices, SPX DJIA COMP, to be mixed. Over the past month, the S&P 500 has dropped around 7%.
