EU girds for trade riposte after US ups ante on tariffs

Luxembourg, Oct. 3: European nations scrambled on Thursday to prepare a response to new US tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of EU goods after Washington got the goahead from the World Trade Organization to strike back over state subsidies for planemaker Airbus.

But officials also indicated they still hoped to find common ground to avoid escalating trade tensions that risk battering economies across the globe.

“We’ve been arguing for a trade deal for months. Our hand is extended,” French

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. which to my mind is the voice of reason,” Le Maire told journalists in Paris, calling Washington’s move to tax $7.5 billion of EU imports a “serious economic mistake.”

US President Donald Trump has already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, saying America has gotten a raw trade deal from its partners.

The Airbus ruling on Wednesday marked the first time the WTO has cleared the United States to impose countermeasures on EU products under international trade law.

“A nice victory!” Trump wrote on Twitter, saying the EU “has for many years treated the USA very badly on trade due to tariffs, trade barriers, and more.”

However, the EU has also filed a WTO suit claiming illegal aid for Airbus’s US rival Boeing, with a decision expected in the coming months.

In the meantime, the bloc has warned it will retaliate in kind.

“If the American administration refuses to accept the hand extended by France and the EU, we are ready to respond with sanctions approved within the WTO framework,” Le Maire said.