The European Commission on Thursday announced consultations on possible countermeasures and preparations for proceedings in the WTO in response to US duties. As Euractiv notes, the EU is targeting American bourbon and wine in the second list of retaliatory measures against US duties, writes UNN.
The European Commission has launched public consultations on a list of US imports that may be subject to EU countermeasures if the current EU-US negotiations do not lead to a mutually beneficial outcome and the lifting of US duties
The list submitted for consultations, as noted, concerns imports from the United States worth 95 billion euros, covering a wide range of industrial and agricultural goods.
According to Euractiv, American bourbon and wine are on the second preliminary list of retaliatory measures in response to US duties, presented by the European Commission today, without indicating the tariff rate. Brussels proposes to target American spirits, wine and beer worth 1.3 billion euros, a senior European Commission official said on Thursday. The famous American drink, as indicated, did not make it into the first list of retaliatory measures - currently postponed until July - published in April in response to the 25% duty on EU steel and aluminum.
From a nearly 100 billion euro list of exports, the EU executive is targeting 6.4 billion euros in imports of agri-food products and half a billion in fish products, the official added. The first seventy pages of the 218-page document cover agriculture and food, from fruits and vegetables to live animals, fresh and frozen meat, and vegetable oils. Pesticides, but not fertilizers, and agricultural machinery are also included. This is in addition to an earlier list that already covered a wide range of agricultural goods, including soybeans and almonds, which are among the most expensive food products exported by the United States to Europe.
The European Commission said it is also consulting on possible restrictions on certain EU exports of steel scrap and chemical products to the US worth 4.4 billion euros. These consultations are aimed at considering both universal US duties and duties on cars and auto parts.
As indicated in the European Commission, after the US introduced its "unjustified and harmful" duties, the EU prioritized finding a mutually beneficial and balanced solution through negotiations, including as part of the US-announced partial suspension of duties for 90 days.
"These negotiations are continuing both at the political and technical level," the European Commission said.
Meanwhile, as indicated, "the EU continues to prepare potential countermeasures to protect its consumers and industry in parallel with negotiations and in case they do not yield a satisfactory result." Although public consultations are a necessary step in this process, they do not automatically lead to the adoption of countermeasures.
In parallel, the EU will also launch a dispute in the WTO against the US on their universal so-called "reciprocal" duties and duties on cars and auto parts, formally submitting a request for consultations. The EU clearly believes that these duties grossly violate the basic rules of the WTO. Thus, the EU's goal is to confirm that internationally agreed rules matter and cannot be unilaterally ignored by any WTO member, including the US
Finally, the European Commission, as reported, "continues to closely monitor the potential redirection of global exports to the EU market, which may be caused by US duties imposed on third countries." In addition, the European Commission said that it "will continue to negotiate with other trading partners to find new sales markets and diversify sources of supply." "We will also continue the current work to reduce barriers and strengthen the EU single market," the statement said.
Duties are already having a negative impact on the global economy. The EU remains fully committed to finding negotiation results with the US. We believe that good deals can be concluded for the benefit of consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. At the same time, we continue to prepare for all possibilities, and the consultations launched today will help us in this necessary work
Further steps
The European Commission, as reported, will act in accordance with EU regulations, considering US measures as protective measures.
"As a first step in this process, everyone affected by the potential rebalancing measures currently being considered by the EU is invited to submit their opinions within four weeks, including on the impact of US duties. Therefore, the consultations will be open until June 10," the statement said.
Based on the collected data, the European Commission, as indicated, will finalize its proposal for the adoption of countermeasures and will consult with the EU member states within the framework of the so-called comitology process. After the completion of this process, the European Commission intends to "prepare a legal act introducing countermeasures for use in case the negotiations with the US do not yield a satisfactory result."
"In parallel with this, as soon as the EU officially submits a request for WTO consultations in the near future, both parties will have up to two months to find a mutually acceptable solution. If the consultations are not successful, the EU will be able to request the establishment of a commission that will assess the substance of the matter," the statement said.