Effective November 10, the European Union will impose additional tariffs on $4 billion worth of imports from the U.S. in response to the on-going dispute over aircraft subsidies.
The new tariffs include an additional 15% duty on large aircraft, plus an additional 25% on dozens of other goods including seafood, cheeses, fruits and fruit juices, cocoa powder and cocoa products, essential oils, alcoholic beverages, first aid supplies, briefcases, luggage, wallets, handbags, shopping bags, construction equipment, tractors, parts of motorcycles, video and coin-operated games, and exercise equipment.
The tit-for-tat tariffs are the latest development in a 16-year trade dispute between the U.S. and the EU over aircraft subsidies to the French aircraft giant Airbus and Washington-based Boeing. The decision to impose the tariffs comes after last month’s World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling in favor of additional tariffs on American goods for support offered to Boeing. Last year, the WTO made a similar ruling in favor of the U.S. over support granted to Airbus, and tariffs were imposed tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of goods from various EU member countries.
In recent months, both sides have taken steps to correct the offending subsidy programs, but there has been no progress on reaching a settlement. The EU said it still hoped to settle the dispute once the U.S. removes its tariffs on 150 goods from the EU.
The U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has previously warned that an imposition of tariffs would “force a U.S. responses.”
