The European Union is aiming to impose 25 percent retaliatory tariffs on a range of products, including steel products, industrial goods, textile, consumer and agricultural goods, imported from the US, targeting €2.8 billion of American goods, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg stated that the EU especially targets iconic US brands in order to raise political pressure on the US President Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The EU’s list targets US imports of textiles, cosmetics, other consumer goods, motorbikes and pleasure boats worth around €1 billion, alcoholic beverages, corn and other agricultural products amounting to €951 million, and steel and other industrial products totaling €854 million.
The European Commission is also considering filing a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the US and introducing safeguard measures to prevent massive trade diversion in the EU because of the US tariffs on steel and aluminum products, according to the Bloomberg report.