US plans to impose new tariffs on European aircraft, agricultural products

The US has announced that it will slap the European Union with fresh tariffs on a wide range of goods, including non-military aircraft, as well as agricultural and food products, effective from October 18.

In a document released on Wednesday, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) listed products that it plans to target, intensifying US President Donald Trump’s administration’s global trade battle.

The list included a 10 percent tariff on aircraft from France, Germany, the UK, and Spain.

The US also plans to impose a 25 percent duty on various garments and blankets from the UK, as well as on cheeses, frozen meats, various beverages, and olive oil from Germany, the UK, and Spain.

The Spanish Agricultural Association said on Thursday that US tariffs on EU products would affect around EUR 1 billion of Spainsh agriculture exports, Reuters reported.

Some of the countries impacted by the tariffs include Austria, Belgium, Italy, Cyprus, and several other EU nations.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday issued a ruling supporting a request from the US to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of European goods annually. The tariffs, however, may not exceed this amount, the WTO said in a statement.

The WTO had granted Trump’s administration the ruling after the organization found that European governments had provided illegal subsidies to aerospace company Airbus.

It was not immediately clear if the value of the products listed on the USTR document would amount to $7.5 billion worth of goods or less.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday said that France, as well as other EU nations are ready to respond “with sanctions” if the US rejected Europe’s resolution in the Airbus dispute.

“If the American administration rejects the hand that has been held out by France and the European Union, we are preparing ourselves to react with sanctions,” Le Maire was quoted as saying by news agencies.

The US had lodged complaints against European nations in 2004 related to the development of Airbus A350 and A380 airplanes, according to earlier media reports.