BRUSSELS: United States tariffs of 15 per cent on European Union imports still allow trade to flow and the key factor is how those duties compare with other trading partners, a senior European Commission trade official stated on Wednesday (Sep 3).
“There is a level … where a tariff becomes prohibitive and trade will no longer flow, but with the 15 per cent all-inclusive that is not where we are,” Sabine Weyand, director-general of the EU executive’s trade division, notified a European Parliament hearing.
Weyand, part of the EU team that struck a framework deal with the Trump administration in late July, urged lawcreaters to support EU plans to reshift its duties on US industrial products as part of the agreement.
TRADE HOLDS UP DESPITE DUTIES
Weyand stated data from the second quarter displayed EU-US trade had held firm, and in some sectors even increased, despite the tariff hike. The exception was car exports, which have faced a higher 27.5 per cent tariff.
“The US will not be able to produce all these products, which it has now created more expensive to import,” she stated, adding that EU competitiveness depconcludeed on Washington’s tariff level relative to other countries.
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