US imposes tariffs on EU goods

BRUSSELS: The United States imposed tariffs on a record $7.5-billion worth of European Union goods on Friday, earning a swift threat of retaliation by the EU.

The tariffs, which took effect just after midnight in Washington (0401 GMT), came after talks between European officials and US trade representatives failed to win a last-minute reprieve.

Airbus, French wine and Scottish whiskies are among the high-profile targets with Europe ready to hit back against its own list of iconic or politically sensitive US products next year. The WTO-endorsed transatlantic onslaught from US President Donald Trump also comes as Washington is mired in a trade war with China and could risk destabilising the global economy further.

In the line of fire are civilian aircraft from Britain, France, Germany and Spain—the countries that formed Airbus—which will now cost 10 percent more when imported to the US. But the tariffs also target consumer products such as French wine, which Trump had vowed to attack in recent months. Wine from France, Spain and Germany will now face 25 percent tariffs.

“We regret the choice of the US to move ahead with tariffs,” European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement after attempts to negotiate a truce went nowhere. “This step leaves us no alternative but to follow through in due course with our own tariffs in the Boeing case, where the US has been found in breach of WTO rules,” she added.

Speaking in Washington hours before the tariffs came into effect, France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire warned the move would have serious repercussions. “Europe is ready to retaliate, in the framework of course of the WTO,” he told reporters shortly after meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. These decisions “would have very negative consequences” he said.

Le Maire was due to meet Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s trade supremo, later on Friday. At a time when the global economy is slowing, “I think that our responsibility is to do our best to avoid that kind of conflict,” Le Maire said.

The Europeans have long advocated negotiation over conflict and they themselves will be able to impose tariffs next year to punish the United States for subsidising Boeing.But EU officials offered in July to call a truce on subsidies for planemakers, in which both sides would admit fault and agree to curtail state aid—to no avail. The two sides have been involved in a row over the subsidies for 15 years.

The tariffs kick in just days after the United States was given the formal go-ahead by the World Trade Organization, an official approval previous Trump trade tactics have lacked.