Here we go again.
The Trump administration, led by the “Tariff Man” himself, is now proposing new tariffs on EU products to try and force the EU to stop illegal subsidies for Airbus.
Here’s more from Bloomberg:
President Donald Trump’s administration is proposing tariffs on new passenger helicopters, various cheeses and wines, ski-suits and certain motorcycles in response to harm the U.S. says is being caused by European Union aircraft subsidies.
In issuing the list, which includes many other items, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office cites the World Trade Organization’s finding that EU subsidies to Airbus SE have “repeatedly” caused “adverse effects to the United States,” the USTR said in a statement Monday evening.
The Trump administration said starting Monday, it is beginning a process under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to “identify products of the EU to which additional duties may be applied until the EU removes those subsidies.”
WTO Issues Mixed Decision in EU-Boeing Subsidy Dispute
The proposed tariffs come nearly 15 years after the U.S. first complained to the WTO that Airbus had widely benefited from billions of dollars in illegal subsidies. A countersuit by the European Union is still winding its way through the trade court, which found last month that about $325 million in tax incentives offered by Washington State to Boeing were unlawful.
Trump has made tariffs a staple of his administration, demonstrating that he’s not afraid to use them to try and ‘balance’ the playing field.
I honestly don’t know much about this specific issue, but from the article above we know the complaint is going through the court system. I guess Trump doesn’t want to wait on an official ruling and is taking matters into his own hands.
What can I say. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯