EU Publishes New List of Products that Could be Subject to Retaliatory Tariffs and Invites Comments from Stakeholders

• The EU opens consultations and publishes list of United States’ imports which could be part of EU countermeasures against the U.S. tariffs.
• The consultations also cover potential countermeasures in the form of export restrictions on selected products.
• Stakeholders are invited to submit comments by June 10. This is an opportunity to remove products from the lists, reducing the risk that they will be subject to retaliatory tariffs or export restrictions.
• The EU also announced the launch of a WTO dispute against the United States.

On Thursday, the European Commission opened a public consultation on a proposed list of U.S. imports that could face European Union (EU) countermeasures if current negotiations between the EU and the U.S. fail to reach a fair agreement and U.S. tariffs remain in place. The consultation addresses both the U.S. universal tariffs and the tariffs on cars and car parts. The EU also announced that it would initiate a dispute against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Countermeasures

The list under review includes U.S. goods valued at €95 billion euros, spanning a wide array of industrial and agricultural products. Additionally, the Commission is seeking input on potential restrictions on certain EU exports to the U.S., specifically steel scrap and chemical products worth €4.4 billion. These potential countermeasures are in response to both the universal “reciprocal” U.S. tariffs and those specifically applied to cars and car parts.

These countermeasures would be separate and in addition to the measures against U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs which the EU announced in March but delayed for 90 days to allow space for a negotiated solution.

Meanwhile, the EU and U.S. continue to negotiate and there are negotiations ongoing both at political and technical level, according to the Commission. However, these so far yielded limited results.

Call for stakeholder views

The consultations are open to “anyone who is affected by the United States’ measures and by the possible EU countermeasures”. Interested parties can submit their views via an online survey until June 10 noon CET.

Respondents are invited to submit views on (a) the EU’s economic interests in certain U.S. imports potentially subject to retaliatory tariffs, and (b) EU exports to the U.S. that could be affected by possible export restrictions in response to U.S. tariffs.

The Commission will use the following criteria to determine the final list of products that will be subject to the retaliatory measures:

• Effectiveness in inducing compliance of the U.S. with international trade rules.
• Potential to provide relief to economic operators within the EU, affected by the U.S. tariffs.
• Availability of alternative sources of supply for the goods concerned, in order to avoid or minimize any negative impact on downstream industries, contracting authorities or entities, or final consumers within the EU.
• Avoidance of disproportionate administrative complexity and costs in the application of the measures.

This is an opportunity for affected businesses to argue for exclusions from the preliminary list or to submit other comments to the Commission.

In parallel, the Commission consults with EU member states. Following inputs, the Commission will ask the EU member states to decide on an updated list of countermeasures by qualified majority.

Akin lawyers and advisors stand ready to respond to questions or assist those affected by these proposed measures.

WTO Dispute

The Commission also announced that the EU will initiate a WTO dispute against the U.S. concerning the universal tariffs as well as those on cars and car parts. According to the Commission, “it is the unequivocal view of the EU that these tariffs blatantly violate fundamental WTO rules.”

This would be the third WTO challenge against the U.S. “reciprocal” tariffs. Canada requested consultations with the United States in March regarding the additional tariffs on Canadian goods, while China initiated its challenge in April over both the universal and country-specific tariffs.