The U.S. will adjust its tariffs that it imposed on European Union (EU) goods in the wake of winning a dispute at the WTO over subsidies provided to Airbus.
The U.S. took issue with the time period that the EU used to hit the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs after it was cleared to impose sanctions on the U.S. for subsidies to Boeing that the world trade body said ran counter to U.S. WTO commitments. The U.S. will now apply additional tariffs include aircraft manufacturing parts from France and Germany, certain non-sparkling wine from France and Germany, and certain cognac and other grape brandies from France and Germany, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
“The EU used trade data from a period in which trade volumes had been drastically reduced due to the horrific effects on the global economy from the COVID-19 virus,” USTR said in announcing the shift in tariffs. “The result of this choice was that Europe imposed tariffs on substantially more products than would have been covered if it had utilized a normal period.”
Given that, USTR said the U.S. is “forced to change its reference period to the same period used by the European Union.” But the U.S. will adjust the product coverage by less than the full amount that would be justified utilizing the EU's chosen time period. The new U.S. tariffs will take effect January 12.