EU Won't Hike Tariffs on US Goods June 1 as Negotiations Continue

The European Union announced May 17 that it would not hike tariffs on American goods that are on its retaliation list for Section 232 tariffs, such as whiskey, bourbon, orange juice, cigarettes, steel, motorcycles and yachts. Some items on the list have had a 25% additional tariff since June 2018, others, an additional 10% tariff since then. Europe had been scheduled to double the tariffs on June 1.

Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said, “Our decision to temporarily suspend the automatic increase in the EU's rebalancing measures against U.S. 232 steel and aluminum tariffs shows that we are walking the talk in our efforts to reboot the transatlantic relationship. By suspending our measures, we are creating the space to resolve these issues before the end of the year. The EU is not a national security threat to the U.S. But the distortions created by global excess capacity -- driven largely by third parties -- pose a serious threat to the market-oriented EU and U.S. steel and aluminum industries and the workers in those industries.”