The European Commission (EC) is considering imposing tariffs of up to 25% on a wide range of US exports worth around €22.1 billion based on EU imports in 2024. They would mainly affect products, notably trucks, cigarettes and ice cream, from US “red states“, whose voters overwhelmingly voted for the Republican Party, Politico reported.
It includes, according to the publication, which reviewed an internal EC document, “agricultural and industrial goods such as soybeans, meat, tobacco, iron, steel and aluminium, with the aim of hitting US sectors most dependent on transatlantic exports.” In total, the EU tariffs are set to hit exports from “red states“ worth up to €13.5 billion. EUR.
The initiators of such tariffs, as noted in the publication, have shown an “unconventional approach in an attempt to hit the US in a way that would cause the greatest damage“ to the country.
Earlier, European Commissioner for Trade Policy and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič said at a press conference after the meeting of EU ministers in Luxembourg that the EU Council should approve the measures proposed by the European Commission on April 9 and will introduce the first package into force on April 15, and the rest on May 15.