EU and US bid to resolve steel dispute

THE European Union and the United States have decided to temporarily suspend measures at the heart of a steel tariff dispute.

With the decision, “we are walking the talk in our efforts to reboot the transatlantic relationship”, said EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis, pictured.

The issue goes back to the tariffs that then-president Donald Trump slapped on EU steel and aluminium, which enraged Europeans by calling their metals a threat to US national security. The Article 232 proceeding hurts European producers and has raised the cost of steel for US firms. Europe retaliated by raising tariffs on US-made motorbikes, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans.

US president Joe Biden will meet EU leaders in June for talks.