The USA is beginning to impose new penalties on imports from Europe. An additional penalty duty of 25 percent will be imposed on imports of numerous products such as cheese, wine, butter and olive oil. When importing aircraft, an additional duty of 10 percent is levied.
The USA had already announced the tariffs at the beginning of October as a retaliation for illegal EU subsidies for the aircraft manufacturer Airbus. World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrators had granted the US government the right to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of goods.
The European Union had been trying to find a negotiated solution to the dispute over sanctions for aircraft manufacturers. Brussels is now threatening to retaliate, as the EU had been proved right in a similar case concerning subsidies for the US aviation group Boeing.
The EU could therefore also impose similar penalties next year – but the WTO decision on this will not be made until 2020.
Sources: dpa-AFX