BRUSSELS — The European Commission has proposed tariffs on a range of US goods, including aircraft, machinery, cars, chemicals, and medical devices, if ongoing talks with Washington fail to resolve trade issues.
This proposed package is the second one presented by the European Commission, responsible for trade policy in the 27-nation European Union. It aims to counter US tariffs on cars and car parts, as well as a current baseline tariff of 10 per cent.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to increase the baseline tariff on EU imports to 30 per cent starting from August 1, a move that European officials deem unacceptable and potentially disruptive to trade between two major markets.
The list of goods, valued at 72 billion euros (S$107 billion) in US imports, includes electrical equipment, precision instruments, agricultural products, and food items such as fruits, vegetables, wine, beer, and spirits, totaling 6.35 billion euros.
An initial package targeting 21 billion euros of US goods was proposed in April but was quickly suspended to facilitate negotiations. This suspension has been extended until August 6.
EU officials indicated on Monday that they are still pursuing a trade agreement to avoid the imposition of heavy US tariffs. However, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic stated that if talks fail, the bloc is prepared to take necessary countermeasures.
The European Commission had initially introduced the second package in May for public feedback, covering 95 billion euros' worth of US goods. The list has since been refined, although the major items remain unchanged.
There is currently no set date for EU member states to approve this proposed tariff package.
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