EU targets Boeing, US cars and bourbon with $84 billion list
The European Union has finalized a second list of countermeasures to target US goods worth €72 billion ($84 billion), including Boeing Co. aircraft, automobiles and bourbon if it decides to retaliate against Donald Trump’s tariff policy.
Trump on Monday said he is still open to more trade negotiations with the EU after announcing over the weekend a 30% levy on EU imports that will kick in on Aug. 1 if the two sides fail to agree on a better deal. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic was planning to speak with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick late Monday as he pushes for a settlement that the EU insists must be mutually beneficial to both sides.
“We’re always open to talk,” the US president told reporters at the White House. “We are open to talk, including to Europe. In fact, they’re coming over. They’d like to talk.”
Over the weekend, Trump set out his plans for higher EU tariffs which Sefcovic called “effectively prohibitive” to trans-Atlantic trade. EU trade ministers met in Brussels on Monday to discuss next steps.
The additional EU duties would also be slapped on US machinery products, chemicals and plastics, medical devices, electrical equipment, wines and other agricultural goods, according to a 206-page list prepared by the European Commission and seen by Bloomberg News.
The list, initially hitting American goods totaling €95 billion, was cut down after consultations with companies and member states. Countries must give their approval before the list’s adoption. The suite of measures predates the weekend letter threatening to raise tariffs to 30% and represents the EU’s response to an earlier so-called reciprocal tariff of 20% hitting most goods as well as the additional levies on cars and car parts of 25%.
European Commission representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday morning. The list, which was reported earlier by Politico, does not include a tariff rate for the goods.
Over the weekend, the EU announced it was set to extend a suspension of tariffs on a first list of €21 billion of US products in response to additional steel and aluminum tariffs from Trump.
The EU’s new list of targeted US products includes more than €65 billion of industrial goods, including mostly aircraft (nearly €11 billion), machinery (more than €9.4 billion) and cars (nearly €8 billion). More than €6 billion of US goods hit are agrifood products, mostly fruits and vegetables (nearly €2 billion) and alcoholic drinks (€1.2 billion).
The broad package also includes precision equipment and instruments (nearly €5 billion), toys and hobby equipment (more than €500 million), sports guns (nearly €300 million) or musical instruments (around €200 million).
Some of the criteria to choose the goods were the availability of alternative sources of supply and products where the risk of relocation is high, according to the document. Imported military products will not be subject to the duties.
• With assistance from Suzanne Lynch.