The proposed tariffs – drawn up since President Donald Trump’s duties on steel and aluminium took effect last month – aim to show EU strength while Brussels seeks to negotiate over Washington’s broader tariffs onslaught.
Brussels scrapped bourbon from a preliminary list of targeted goods, after bowing to demands from major wine exporters France and Italy, which were spooked by Trump’s threat to hit European alcoholic beverages with a 200% tariff in retaliation.
The US-produced whiskey does not feature on the final list seen by AFP, which was sent to representatives of EU member states ahead of a vote on Wednesday.
The list proposes levies on goods including soybeans, poultry, rice, sweetcorn, fruit and nuts, wood, motorcycles, plastics, textiles, paintings, electrical equipment, make-up and other beauty products.
Brussels has so far refrained from hitting back at the 20% duties on the bloc’s imports ordered as part of Trump’s global tariff onslaught, with EU states rallying behind a push to avert an all-out trade war through negotiations.
However, EU trade spokesman, Olof Gill, said today that the European Commission could present its planned countermeasures to the new levies “as early as next week”.
He added that the EU would consult with member states and industry on the plan before agreeing on “final measures” that EU capitals would then vote on.
‘Counterproductive’
Brussels has already launched its retaliation to Trump’s 25% metals tariffs, with a two-step response set to play out over the next six weeks.
First it will let levies dating from Trump’s first term – but currently suspended – snap back into place in mid-April.
Part two of the response involves a new set of tariffs targeting US goods, as per the document.
If approved, the majority of the levies will take effect mid-May, while some, like tariffs on almonds, will begin in December, according to the document.
Initially Brussels estimated the US tariffs would target US$28 billion worth of its exports, and the European response would affect the same amount of US products.
However, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said yesterday that “it will not be up to the level of €26 billion (US$28 billion), because we’ve been listening very carefully to our member states”.
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani reiterated today that Rome did not want bourbon included as it would be “counterproductive”.
“It would be detrimental to our wine exports,” he told reporters in Luxembourg as EU trade ministers met to discuss Trump’s sweeping new tariffs announced last week.