Berlin-Sana
German Foreign Minister Heiko Mas said the United States had "chosen the path of confrontation" by rejecting the EU's offer of a friendly solution to the dispute over trade support for the aviation industry, noting that Europe would respond with a punitive tariff.
"The United States has rejected the EU offer and has chosen the path of confrontation, which is wrong because both sides of the Atlantic and workers on both sides have to pay for it," Mas told Germany's Funke newspaper.
"The EU will now have to respond with WTO approval and will likely impose punitive tariffs," he said, stressing that Europe was still ready to negotiate common rules on aviation support with the United States and there was still a chance to avoid further damage from the global economy. “Everyone will benefit from open and fair trade.”
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the United States would hurt itself because tariffs would be at the expense of the US economy and consumers in the United States, adding that "soon the EU could also be able to impose sanctions."
Washington will impose a 10 percent tariff on aircraft and 25 percent on other industrial and agricultural goods from the European Union as part of a World Trade Organization (WTO) sanction for long-running aircraft subsidies, an official at the US Trade Representative's office said.
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