EU imposes tariffs on US peanuts and whiskey

ASSOCIATED PRESS
INTERNATIONAL.- The European Union started enforcing tariffs Friday on American imports like bourbon, whiskey, peanut butter and orange juice, part of a growing global trade rift that’s likely to intensify over the next few weeks. The EU tariffs on $3.4 billion worth of U.S. products are in retaliation for duties the Trump administration has imposed on European steel and aluminum.

The EU trade commissioner has acknowledged that the EU targeted some iconic American items to put political pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump and senior U.S. politicians. European Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein said the EU’s response is proportionate and reasonable. Daniel Gros, director for Economy and Finance at the Center for European Policy Studies, said that in a trade war everyone stands to lose, but the U.S. has put itself in a worse position.

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“I think the United States is losing more because it has put tariffs on a very important input which very often it doesn’t produce itself,” he said. “The EU perhaps will find a few disgruntled consumers who have to pay more for their Harley Davidsons, but that is not a big loss for us.” Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on EU steel and 10 percent on aluminum on June 1. Europeans claim that breaks global trade rules.

The spat is part of a wider tussle over global trade. In two weeks, the United States will start taxing $34 billion in Chinese goods. Beijing has vowed to immediately retaliate with its own tariffs on U.S. soybeans and other farm products. A trade association representing a dozen automakers doing business in the United States says President Donald Trump’s threat to slap 20 percent tariffs on vehicles imported from Europe is “not the right approach.”

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers says in a statement that it understands that the administration is trying to level the playing field but that “tariffs raise vehicle prices for our customers, limit consumer choice and invite retaliatory action by our trading partners.” The group, whose members include European automakers BMW, Volkswagen, Jaguar-Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volvo, says automakers favor reducing trade barriers and “achieving fairness through facilitating rather than inhibiting trade.”