The European Union is proposing to impose a 25% tariff on some American goods in response to President Donald Trumpʼs decision to tax European imports of aluminum and steel.
Bloomberg writes about this with reference to a European Commission document at its disposal.
The document lists dozens of codes for categories of American goods on which the EU could impose tariffs. These include diamonds, motorcycles, pleasure boats, household appliances, playing cards, tobacco, poultry, and other agricultural products.
EU member states are expected to approve the plan by the end of this week. It would then take effect on April 15, although most of the tariffs would take effect from mid-May, a European official said. However, Reuters reports that some of the tariffs would take effect from May 16 and others from December 1.
In this way, the European Union wants to leave room for negotiations with the US, but also wants to demonstrate determination.
What preceded
On April 2, the US President Donald Trump reported that he would impose tariffs on goods from other countries. The new tariffs will apply to more than 180 countries and territories (not including Russia, North Korea, Cuba and Belarus, which are already under sanctions). A 10% tariff was imposed on Ukraine. The European Union was hit with a 20% tariff.
The US tariffs have shaken global stock markets: the largest stock indexes in Asia and Europe have collapsed, oil prices and cryptocurrency rates have fallen. The US stock index S&P 500 also opened with a decline.
To prevent a trade war, the EU has offered the US zero tariffs on industrial goods.
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