The European Union will charge tariffs of 25 percent on a range of U.S. products starting on Friday in response to U.S tariffs on EU steel and aluminum, the European Commission said Wednesday.
The Commission approved a law imposing the import duties on $3.2 billion worth of U.S. goods, including steel and aluminum; agricultural products such as sweetcorn and peanuts; bourbon, jeans and motor-bikes.
“We do not want to be in this position,” EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement, adding that the “unilateral and unjustified” U.S. decision had left the EU with no choice.
The move comes as German auto makers are proposing to end the EU’s 10-percent import tax on U.S.-made cars, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The newspaper reported that U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell has been in talks recently with the chief executives of German car makers BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler, who said they favor scrapping the levies as part of a broader deal encompassing industrial goods.
But Europe also wants the U.S. to scrap a 25 percent tax on imported pickup trucks, SUVs and big vans, a tariff that has been in place since the 1960s.
Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Wednesday that the U.S. is launching an investigation of recent steel price hikes to determine whether some entities are “illegitimately profiteering” from new U.S. tariffs.
Mr. Ross told the Senate Finance Committee that the price of steel in the U.S. market has risen far more than it should under the 25 percent tariff, perhaps due to “speculative activity.”
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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