WASHINGTON, Nov 1 — US President Joe Biden and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday saluted what they called a “new era” in the transatlantic relationship with an agreement reached in Rome to lift steel and aluminum tariffs. US officials said the agreements would not only...
WASHINGTON, Nov 1 — US President Joe Biden and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday saluted what they called a “new era” in the transatlantic relationship with an agreement reached in Rome to lift steel and aluminum tariffs.
Washington and the European Union reached the tariff-lifting agreement Saturday, resolving a conflict that had poisoned trade links between Washington and Brussels since they were declared by the Trump administration. “With this dispute behind us,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement, “we are in a stronger position to address global overcapacity from China with an enhanced enforcement mechanism to prevent leakage of Chinese steel and aluminum into the US market.”In June 2018 Trump imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum from several economies, including the European Union. He said he was acting on national security grounds, a claim rejected by critics.
The deal announced Saturday will allow limited quantities of European steel and aluminum products to be imported by the United States without tariffs.In June, when the sides resolved a dispute over subsidies to Europe’s Airbus consortium and US aviation giant Boeing, Washington and Brussels set a December 1 deadline to resolve the steel question.
“The first ever carbon-based arrangement on steel and aluminum trade contemplated by the agreements would create greater incentives for reducing carbon intensity across modes of production of steel and aluminum made by American and European companies,” said Tai.