Trump hails ‘nice victory’
EU whisky, wine makers left reeling
LONDON/WASHINGTON President Donald Trump hailed a “nice victory” on Thursday after the United States got the green light to place tariffs on European Union goods in a row over EU aircraft sub- sidies.
But Wednesday’s decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) left Scottish whisky makers, Spanish winemakers and French cheesemakers fuming as the U.S. tariffs targeted products from countries in the Airbus
Engineers in Germany worried that the row over subsidies granted to the European planemaker was leading to “a table tennis match” over transatlantic tariffs, and France warned of retaliation by the EU.
The WTO decision gave the United States the go-ahead to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of EU goods annually in the long-running case.
The dispute darkens the global economic outlook, which already has the cloud of the U.s.-china trade dispute hanging over it. Washington and Beijing have imposed tariffs on each other’s goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Trump said on Twitter the EU “has for many years treated the USA very badly on Trade due to Tariffs, Trade Barriers, and more. This case going on for years, a nice victory!”
Washington said that, after 15 years of litigation, it would impose 10% tariffs on Airbus planes, a move that could hurt orders by U.S. airlines, and 25% duties on French wine, Scotch and Irish whiskies, and cheese from across the continent.
“If the American administration rejects the hand that has been held out by France and the European Union, we are preparing ourselves to react with sanctions,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
Britain said it was seeking confirmation from the WTO that it had complied with the organization’s rulings and should not face tariffs.
The Scottish Whisky Association said jobs and investment were at risk from a 25% tariff on single malt. Scotch whisky exports to the United States, the industry’s biggest single market, were worth 1 billion pounds ($1.23 billion) last year.
“Despite the fact that this dispute is about aircraft subsidies, our sector has been hit hard,” the association’s chief executive, Karen Betts, said in a statement.