EU to delay retaliatory tariffs on US whiskey, other exports
The European Union will delay tariffs on U.S. exports into the trading bloc in response to the imposition of tariffs on European aluminum and steel, a measure announced in February by the White House as part of an overhaul of the U.S. trade policies.
The EU had been planning to levy two tranches of tariffs starting April 1 on a range of U.S. goods that includes agricultural products and clothing items but announced Thursday that the countermeasures will be taking effect beginning in mid-April.
“The EU countermeasures that were announced on 12 March will all take effect in mid-April,” spokesperson Olof Gill said in a statement sent to The Hill.
Gill called the new effective date for the tariffs a “slight adjustment” that would not diminish their economic impact but would allow additional time for negotiations.
“The change represents a slight adjustment to the timeline and does not diminish the impact of our response, in particular as the EU continues to prepare for retaliation of up to EUR 26 billion,” he said.
European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said during a hearing at the European Parliament on Thursday that the delay would provide more time for discussions with the U.S.
“This would also give us extra time for negotiations with our American partners,” he said.
The White House announced in February it would impose 25 percent steel and aluminum tariffs on the EU and a number of other countries under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
Section 232 tariffs are reserved for imports that “threaten to impair” U.S. national security.
By exempting the EU and other countries, “the United States inadvertently created loopholes that were exploited by China and others with excess steel and aluminum capacity,” the White House said in February.
U.S. industries that conduct trade with Europe have been urging the White House to back away from the tariffs.
“We urge the U.S. and EU to refrain from imposing these tariffs and to engage in negotiations to resolve the underlying trade issues on steel and aluminum,” the U.S. Distilled Spirits Council, an alcoholic beverage trade group, said in a statement earlier this month.
World leaders have been responding to the flurry of new tariff orders from the Trump administration with a variety of different strategies.
Some have been meeting President Trump’s aggressive posture head-on, such as Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has been a vociferous defender of Canada’s economic policies and has slapped a surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S. earlier this month before pulling the order as part of a quick detente on both sides.
Others, such as Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, have kept their poker faces and delayed retaliatory measures as domestic pressures to ease tariffs mounted. Sheinbaum said earlier this month that Mexico needed to keep a “cool head” as the U.S. upended longstanding global trade practices.
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