EU Sends WTO Retaliatory Tariffs List, Preparing for June; India Also Announces Retaliation Targets
The European Union submitted to the World Trade Organization on May 18 the list of products it will impose 25 percent tariffs on if the U.S. does not spare it from steel and aluminum tariffs next month. The initial list, which runs to 181 items, is designed to counteract the tariffs on almost $7.2 billion worth of steel and aluminum that will be subject to duties from the United States under Section 232. Only 1.2 billion of that is aluminum. The EU could begin collecting tariffs on these items as soon as June 20. The list includes peanut butter, orange juice, cigarettes, steel, pipes, motorcycles and yachts.
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The EU says it is legal to levy these tariffs because the Section 232 tariffs are not really to protect national security, but are safeguards in design. The notice also includes further lists that could go into effect in 2021 if the dispute were to go on that long.
India also on May 18 submitted a list to the WTO of U.S. goods that would be subject to additional tariffs. India's list covers dried chickpeas, various kinds of nuts, apples, wheat, soybean and palm oil, chocolate and cocoa products, golf carts and motorcycles. The food and agricultural imports are mostly subject to 5 percent to 10 percent duties, though walnuts would be subject to a 100 percent tariff, and apples to a 30 percent tariff. The golf carts and motorcycles would be subject to additional 50 percent tariffs. The largest exports by volume facing the tariffs are soybean oil, palm oil and cashew nuts. India exported $849 million worth of aluminum and steel to the U.S. in 2017, it said, and the increase in duties would equal $165 million.