The EU welcomes the US decision not to increase tariffs

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, left, and EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan during a press conference in Paris in January.ERIC PIERMONT

Relief and haste. Brussels breathed this Wednesday before the decision of the United States not to raise the amount of tariffs on European products. "The Commission recognizes the decision of the United States not to exacerbate the ongoing dispute," said community sources. The movement avoids a worsening of the trade shock at a particularly delicate time for the global economy, but it is far from closing the transatlantic conflict. The annual taxes worth 7.5 billion euros imposed by the US on imports from the EU in October 2019 remain in force, and with each passing day the damage they cause, among others, to the aeronautical industry and the wine and wine sectors increases. Oil. The European Commission is aware of this and has taken advantage of the pause in the escalation of tensions to call on Washington to put aside differences and "intensify efforts to find a negotiated solution."

Community sources warn that in the midst of a pandemic, with GDP sinking on both sides of the ocean, there is no margin for the exchange of blows. "The current economic slowdown, and especially its impact on the air and aeronautical sector, gives a special urgency to the resolution of this dispute", they point out.

France, one of the countries hardest hit by the tariffs, is increasing pressure on Brussels to act if the White House does not back down. On September 1, the United States will add new French and German products to its list and remove other British and Greek products, a new affront that has not sat well in Paris. “One thing must be clear to everyone. If the American sanctions are maintained and we do not reach an agreement, the EU must prepare to respond with sanctions ”, said this Wednesday the French Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, who insisted that the Twenty-seven comply with the rules of the Organization World Trade.

The litigation dates back to 2004, when Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom provided public aid to Airbus. Although the EU accuses Washington of doing the same with Boeing, the US denounced that European subsidies hurt the US aircraft manufacturer. And the WTO agreed with him. To facilitate an exit, Airbus announced a month ago that it was waiving the favorable terms of the loans granted by Spain and France for its A350 aircraft. Brussels then launched a request for the end of the tariffs through the mouth of its Trade Commissioner, Phil Hogan. But that gesture still has not arrived, and the bill increases at times: organizations of French wine exporters speak of a drop in shipments of 35% and losses of 415 million per year, while the Spanish countryside has left 200 million in seven months .

In this complex environment, with the United States taxing the import of goods from the civil aviation sector with 15% and the rest of the products with 25%, including cheeses, jellies, wines, spirits and olives, Brussels insists for now in the outstretched hand. And he announces new negotiating efforts by Commissioner Hogan with Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, "with a view to finding a solution based on constructive dialogue and mutual benefits rather than conflict."

Less than three months before the elections in the United States, the EU does not want to give up the objective of paralyzing tariffs before the elections. On paper, the eventual departure of Donald Trump from the White House, predicted by polls, would pave the way to a solution, but the Twenty-Seven do not want to gamble everything on what the polls say or condemn producers and manufacturers to suffer the tariffs. until the uncertain irruption of a new interlocutor, more friendly to their interests, in 2021.