By Kolawole Ojebisi
The trade war initiated by President Donald Trump’s sweeping taríffs on goods coming into the United States has escalated following a retaliatory move from the European Union (EU).
The European Union on Wednesday approved initial retaliatory tariffs of 10 per cent to 25 per cent on U.S. imports.
According to European Commission the tarriffs will be implemented next week.
The commission also added that tarriffs will include special levies on items such as jeans and motorcycles from the United States, while U.S.-made whiskey and other alcoholic beverages were removed from the commission’s proposed list.
Further counter-tariffs are due to be imposed in mid-May and at the end of the year, affecting products including beef, poultry and citrus fruits such as oranges or grapefruit.
Additional tariffs on nuts and soybeans are planned for early December.
The tariffs approved on Wednesday are in response to the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium imports imposed about a month ago.
According to EU calculations, the U.S. measures affect exports worth 26 billion euros (28.8 billion U.S. dollars).
The measures being imposed by Brussels target goods worth approximately 21 billion euros, according to EU sources.
The EU has stressed its preference for negotiations rather than escalating the trade dispute.
Work is still under way on a further package of measures in response to the tariffs on cars and almost all other EU exports to the U.S. more recently announced by President Donald Trump.
Trump’s tariff policy aims to correct alleged trade imbalances and shift production to the United States, while partially offsetting tax cuts promised during his election campaign.
