Unlock the Editor’s Digest at no cost
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
The EU has stated it might retaliate towards US tariffs on European metal and aluminium exports with “agency and proportionate countermeasures”, as officers in Brussels rush to avert a commerce struggle with Washington.
“The EU will act to safeguard its financial pursuits. We are going to defend our employees, companies and customers,” European Fee president Ursula von der Leyen stated on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump introduced that the 25 per cent tariffs on all metal and aluminium imports would take impact on March 4.
EU member states have already permitted levies of as much as 50 per cent on €4.8bn of US imports and will shortly take a last vote to impose them. The merchandise would come with bourbon whiskey, Harley-Davidson bikes, motorboats and a few metal and aluminium.
Von der Leyen will meet US vice-president JD Vance in Paris to debate the problem whereas the fee referred to as a gathering of commerce ministers for Wednesday afternoon.
EU commerce commissioner Maroš Šefčovič instructed the European parliament the bloc was aiming for talks. “We stay dedicated to constructive dialogue. We stand prepared for negotiations, and to search out mutually helpful options the place potential.
“There’s a lot at stake for each side. We wish to make it work, not least as a result of it merely is smart.”
He added: “The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on our exports, which is economically counterproductive. Particularly given the deeply built-in manufacturing chains, established by way of our in depth transatlantic commerce and funding ties.
“Tariffs are taxes; dangerous for enterprise, [and] worse for customers.”
The whiskey tariffs have been first levied in response to metals tariffs imposed by Trump in his first time period as president. That dispute was frozen underneath former president Joe Biden however not resolved.
They are going to robotically come into impact on the finish of March, except a majority of EU nations agree to take action sooner.
Brussels may additionally widen its retaliation however von der Leyen careworn any response can be “proportionate”.
Advisable
The EU metal trade is already shrinking, with manufacturing hitting its lowest-ever stage in 2023. The tariffs on exports of about 3.7mn tonnes a 12 months will hit it laborious, stated Axel Eggert, director-general of Eurofer, the trade physique.
“The final tonne is essentially the most worthwhile tonne as a result of now we have such excessive mounted prices,” he stated.
Metal from elsewhere on the earth that has been pushed out of the US markets may be exported to Europe, additional miserable costs, he stated.
