The EU’s trade chief said that it expects the USA to exclude the European Union from US steel and aluminium tariffs but will go to the WTO to impose its own rules against Washington if Trump presses ahead.
US President Donald Trump set import tariffs last night of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium but exempted Canada and Mexico and offered the possibility of excluding other allies, backtracking from an earlier stance.
The EU however warned that if it wasn’t considered a Trump ally then it would take matters into its own hands.
EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who coordinates policy for the world’s biggest trading bloc, said she shared USA concerns about overcapacity in the steel sector but did not believe in tariffs as a way to solve the problem.
“Europe is certainly not a threat to American internal security so we expect to be excluded,” Malmstrom told reporters before speaking at a conference in Brussels.
Asked at the conference whether she was ready to react if the 28-country EU was included in the U.S. tariffs, Malmstrom said she stood ready to go to the WTO, the international trade arbiter, to impose the bloc’s own safeguards within 90 days.
“We have been very clear that (the U.S. decision) is not in compliance with the WTO, so we will go to the WTO, possibly with some other friends. We will have to protect our industry with rebalancing measures, safeguards,” she said.
European industry associations called on Malmstrom to respond if the EU was subjected to the tariffs, saying they would hit the steel and aluminium sectors hard.
“The loss of exports to the U.S., combined with an expected massive import surge in the EU, could cost tens of thousands of jobs in the EU steel industry and related sectors,” said Axel Eggert, head of steel association EUROFER.
Aluminium producers’ association European Aluminium called for an “immediate” implementation of measures if necessary.
Malmstrom has a previously scheduled meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Brussels on Saturday and said she would seek further clarity on whether the EU was going to be included in the tariffs.