EU delays first counter tariffs against U.S. to mid-April

The European Union has delayed its first counter-measures against the United States over President Donald Trump's metals tariffs until mid-April.

The European Union has delayed its first counter-measures against the United States over President Donald Trump’s metals tariffs until mid-April, allowing it to re-think which U.S. goods to hit and offering extra weeks for negotiations.

The European Commission had proposed re-imposing 2018 tariffs on 4.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion) of U.S. products on April 1, followed by hitting a further 18 billion euros of U.S. goods on April 13.

“We are now considering to align the timing of the two sets of EU counter-measures so we can consult with member states on both lists simultaneously, and this would also give us extra time for negotiations with our American partners,” European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a hearing at the European Parliament on Thursday.

The commission subsequently confirmed all EU counter-measures would take effect in mid-April.

The first set of counter-measures includes applying a 50 per cent tariff on U.S. bourbon. Trump threatened to slap a 200 per cent tariff on all wines and other alcoholic products coming from the EU if the bloc went ahead with this.

The Trump administration is also planning “reciprocal” tariffs on April 2to rebalance the global trading system.

Sefcovic indicated that he had made limited headway with U.S. counterparts in talks so far, such as on his proposal to discuss on lowering import duties on industrial goods.

“I don’t think that the U.S. thinking is in that direction,” he said, adding its priority appeared to be to draw investment and re-industrialize.