Tánaiste to attend EU trade meeting on US tariffs
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will join an emergency meeting of EU trade ministers via video conference later to respond to US President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on European steel and aluminium imports.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has condemned the tariffs and promised “firm and proportionate” countermeasures, although the commission has yet to confirm any retaliatory measures.
EU trade ministers will take stock of President Trump’s executive order to hit all steel and aluminium products entering the US with tariffs, including European steel, some 3.7 million tonnes of which were exported to the US last year.
In the European Parliament yesterday, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said the commission was still assessing the scope of measures imposed by Mr Trump which, he said, were bad for business, worse for consumers, and harmful to the global trading system.
In a statement, Mr Harris said he agreed with Mr Šefčovič that retaliation should not be the EU’s preferred scenario.
He said his priority was to protect the interests of Irish and European businesses, workers and consumers from unfair tariff measures and avoid escalating tit-for-tat duties.
Mr Harris said the EU should be looking to strengthen a deeply integrated relationship and not placing further obstacles in the way of trade flows.
After President Trump imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium in his first term, the EU imposed retaliatory tariffs on products like denim, orange juice, bourbon and Harley Davidson motorbikes.
Under a deal with the Biden Administration, those tariffs were suspended.
However, the suspension expires on 1 March at which point the commission could reimpose the tariffs, this time they could double to 50%. That remains an option for the European side.
Article Source – Tánaiste to attend EU trade meeting on US tariffs – RTE
