The European Union and the US agreed to suspend tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s products, easing a 17-year dispute over illegal aid to the world’s biggest aircraft makers.
This will be an important development for European importers of grapefruits and sweet potatoes.
Last Friday, the EU and the US agreed to suspend tariffs imposed on billions of dollars of imports, saying any long-term solution would need to address Chinese competition. The two sides stated that the four-month suspension will cover all US tariffs on $7.5 billion of EU imports and all EU duties on $4 billion of US products, which resulted from long-running World Trade Organization cases over subsidies for airplane builders Airbus and Boeing. It will ease the burden on industry and workers and focus efforts on resolving the conflict, the statement said.
After a phone call between US president Biden and European Commission President Von der Leyen, the suspension was initiated. The White House stated that Biden emphasized his support for the EU and his commitment to revitalizing the US-Europe partnership, while von der Leyen described the agreement as good news for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, which will be a very positive signal of economic cooperation.
EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis hailed a reset in the EU’s relationship with its biggest and economically most important partner: “Removing these tariffs is a win-win for both sides, at a time when the pandemic is hurting our workers and our economies.”
The US tariffs cover EU planes and plane parts, wine and jam from France and Germany, Spanish olives, German coffee and much more from across the EU. EU tariff targets include US planes and parts, along with tobacco, nuts and sweet potatoes.
Pablo Fitskie, Commercial Director at the European branch of Farm Fresh Produce Inc, told Freshplaza.com: “This is very good news. Times are tough for us with these 25% tariffs. Because of this, we are paying huge amounts of import duties every week and there is an unfair competition between American products and those from competing countries.”
Source: reuters.com
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