After China, it is the turn of the European Union to suffer the economic wrath of Washington. As reported French daily Le Figaro on Tuesday, July 2, the US Trade Representative has published a list of European products may be surcharged when they go on sale in the US market.
The trade offensive that aims at increasing pressure on the EU member states, whose public subsidies allocated to the manufacturer Airbus have angered the United States, shareholder of Boeing.
Thus, as a protest against “EU subsidies for large civil aircraft” , the US Trade Representative may possibly include in a “final list” some “European products to be subject to export tariffs”.
Classified in 89 sub-categories and with a commercial value of about $4 billion, they could be added to the initial list published by the executive last April, which mentioned imports worth an estimated $21 billion dollars.
A large number of products could be targeted, from “frozen pork” to several Dutch cheeses, “fresh Italian cheeses made from cow’s milk” , Roquefort, olives, cherries, coffee, pasta, pears or whiskey. Not to mention some raw materials and chemical components, namely copper, metal, ammonia and sodium nitrate.
These threats from Washington are rooted in a conflict of nearly 15 years with the European Union, and on which the World Trade Organization is expected torule. While denouncing the European subsidies granted to Airbus, Brussels pointed to the “illegal” aid paid by the United States to its national flagship.
The Europeans have also prepared a list of American products likely to be overtaxed in the event of a US economic offensive.
