EU Retaliatory Tariffs

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Beginning on Friday, June 22, 2018, US exports to the European Union will face an extra duty at their border. These products include U.S. steel and aluminum products, agricultural goods, and a combination of various other products. The full list is available here. The various products include the following fashion and apparel articles, which will each be assessed an additional 25% ad valorem tariff penalty:

  • 61091000        T-shirts, singlets and other vests of cotton, knitted or crocheted
  • 61099020        T-shirts, singlets and other vests of wool or fine animal hair or man-made fibres, knitted or crocheted
  • 61099090        T-shirts, singlets and other vests of textile materials, knitted or crocheted (excl. of wool, fine animal hair, cotton or man-made fibres)
  • 62034231        Men’s or boys’ trousers and breeches of cotton denim (excl. knitted or crocheted, industrial and occupational, bib and brace overalls and underpants)
  • 62034290        Men’s or boys’ shorts of cotton (excl. knitted or crocheted, swimwear and underpants)
  • 62034311        Men’s or boys’ trousers and breeches of synthetic fibres, industrial and occupational (excl. knitted or crocheted and bib and brace overalls)
  • 62046231        Women’s or girls’ cotton denim trousers and breeches (excl. industrial and occupational, bib and brace overalls and panties)
  • 62046290        Women’s or girls’ cotton shorts (excl. knitted or crocheted, panties and swimwear)
  • 63023100        Bed linen of cotton (excl. printed, knitted or crocheted)
  • 64035995        Men’s footwear with outer soles and uppers of leather, with in-soles of >= 24 cm in length (excl. covering the ankle, incorporating a protective metal toecap, made on a base or platform of wood, without in-soles, with a vamp or upper made of straps, indoor footwear, sports footwear, and orthopedic footwear)

In a press release, the EU indicated it will rebalance bilateral trade with the US taking as a basis the value of its steel and aluminum exports affected by the US measures. Those are worth €6.4 billion. Of this amount, the EU will rebalance on €2.8 billion worth of exports immediately. The remaining rebalancing on trade valued at €3.6 billion will take place at a later stage – in three years’ time or after a positive finding in WTO dispute settlement if that should come sooner.

The EU indicated that its rebalancing measures will be effective for as long as the US measures are in place, in line with the WTO Safeguards Agreement and EU legislation.

The Implementing Regulation, will be published by the EU tomorrow and entering into force on Friday. It will set out the products and level of duties to be applied, both now and (if necessary) in the future.

Last Updated on 8/16/2018: added link to Federal Register Notice formalizing China List 2 Section 301 tariffs.

Update on 8/14/2018: added new Section 232 tariff of 50% on steel from Turkey.

Update on 8/8/2018: added China’s retaliatory tariffs on $16 billion – List of affected HTS Subheadings includes additional 219 tariff items, plus tariff rate of 25%.

U.S. Trade Actions

Action Covered Products Rate Increase Effective Date
Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Steel – 25%
Aluminum – 10%		 6/1/2018
Status: Steel – all countries of origin except South Korea, Brazil, and Argentina (agreed to quotas); and Australia (exempted).

Aluminum – all countries of origin except Argentina (agreed to quota); and Australia (exempted).

Beginning August 13, steel articles covered by Section 232 from Turkey are subject to an ad valorem duty rate of 50%.
Section 232 Autos and Automotive Parts TBD TBD
Status: For the latest status, please click here.
Section 301 For covered products in List 1, please click here.

 

For the latest version of products in List 2, please click here.

 

For covered products in List 3, please click here and see the Annex.

 25%

 

25%

 

 

25%

 7/6/2018

 

8/23/2018

 

 

TBD
Status: List 1 totaling $34 billion worth of imports is composed of 818 tariff lines, and went into effect on 7/6/2018.

List 2 totaling $16 billion worth of imports is composed of 284 proposed tariff lines identified by the interagency Section 301 Committee. 279 of the 284 lines go into effect on 8/23/2018.

For full details on List 2, please click here.

List 3 includes a list of tariff lines of products from China with an annual trade value totaling approximately $200 billion. These are also subject to a public review process

For full details on List 3, please click here.

For information on changes to the public review process announced on August 1, please click here.

Unofficial searchable and filterable spreadsheet with tabs for all three U.S. Section 301 tariff lists.

Retaliatory Actions

 

Canada For covered products, please click here. Table 1 – 25%
Table 2 – 10%
Table 3 – 10%		 7/1/2018
Status: The Canadian government received over 1,000 submissions of public feedback during public consultations on its original list.

Canada is imposing countermeasures against C$16.6 billion in imports of steel, aluminum, and other products from the U.S., representing the value of 2017 Canadian exports affected by the U.S. tariffs.
EU For covered products, please click here. Annex I – 10% or 25%
Annex II – 10% – 50%		 Annex I – 6/22/2018
Annex II – 3/23/2018 or 5th day after WTO Dispute Settlement Body rules against the U.S. action, whichever is first.
Status: For the latest status, please click here.
Mexico For the translated list of covered products, please click here. 7% – 25% (pages 1-4)

 

10% – 15% (page 5)

 6/5/2018

7/5/2018
Status: Most retaliatory measures effective as of 6/5/2018. An “exception” list is effective on 7/5/2018.
China (Response to Section 232 Tariffs) For covered products, please click here. Annex I – 15% – 25% 4/3/2018
Status: For the latest status, please click here.
China (Response to Section 301 Tariffs) For covered products in List 1, please click here.

(Unofficial Version)

 

For covered products in List 2, please click here.

(Unofficial Version)

For covered products in List 3 (announced August 3), please click here.

(Unofficial Version)

 25%

 

25%

 

TBD

 7/6/2018

 

8/23/2018

 

TBD
Status: List 1 is composed of 545 tariff lines, and goes into effect on 7/6/2018.

List 2 contains 333 tariff lines on U.S. goods worth $16 billion. Start date is 8/23/2018.

List 3 contains 5,207 tariff lines on U.S. worth $60 billion. Start date is unknown.
India For covered products, please click here. Up to $10.6 billion;
Annex I – 5% – 100%		 6/21/2018
Status: The U.S. declined India’s request for WTO consultations. Thus leading to India’s retaliation tariffs on U.S. goods, effective immediately.
Japan For covered products, please click here. Up to $1.91 billion TBD – no earlier than March 23, 2021, or the 5th day following the date of a decision from the WTO DSB, whichever comes first.
Status: No update since May 18, 2018. Ambassador Lighthizer is holding trade talks with Economy Minister Motegi in July. Under Secretary McKinney is also leading a trade mission to Japan to discuss a possible bilateral trade deal.
Russia For covered products, please click here. Up to $3.16 billion TBD
Status: Russia will apply the proposed suspension of equivalent concessions upon the expiration of 30 days from the day on which Council on Trade in Goods has been notified. The suspension will continue until the U.S. lifts the safeguard measures.
Turkey For covered products, please click here. Up to $1.78 billion;
Annex I – 5% – 40%		 6/21/2018
Status: The U.S. declined Turkey’s request for WTO consultions due to the provisions of the Safeguard Agreement. The Government of Turkey proposed the suspension of equivalent concessions starting June 21, 2018.

Update on 8/7/2017: added USTR’s final list of covered products for Section 301 List 2 tariffs with 25% tariff rate.

Update on 8/3/18: added China’s latest Section 301 (List 3) retaliatory tariffs.

Update on 8/2/2018: changed the proposed rate for China Section 301 List 3 from 10 percent to 25 percent.

Update on 7/13/2018: added link to an unofficial searchable and filterable spreadsheet listing the tariff codes for all three current U.S. Section 301 tariff lists (see last line in Section 301 Status).

Update on 7/11/2018: added new U.S. Section 301 tariffs announced on 7/10/2018.

Update on 7/2/2018: added EU Annex I tariffs effective.

Update on 6/29/2018: added Canadian retaliatory tariffs.

Update on 6/21/2018: added India, Japan, Russia, and Turkey.

Update on 6/18/2018: added China’s Section 301 retaliatory tariffs.

Update on 6/15/2018: added new U.S. Section 301 tariffs; added translated version of Mexican retaliatory measures and updated Mexico section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On June 6, the European Commission (Commission) issued a press release stating, “The College of Commissioners endorsed today the decision to impose additional duties on the full list of US products notified to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as part of the EU’s response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium products.”

The release went on to state, “Following today’s decision to apply additional duties to selected imports from the United States, the Commission expects to conclude the relevant procedure in coordination with Member States before the end of June so that the new duties start applying in July.”

The Commission asserts the “rebalancing duties is fully in line with WTO rules, and corresponds to a list of products previously notified to the WTO. The WTO Safeguards Agreement allows for a rebalancing corresponding to the damage caused by the US measures with EU exports worth €6.4 billion (2017) being affected. The EU will therefore exercise its rights immediately on US products valued at up to €2.8 billion of trade. The remaining rebalancing on trade valued at €3.6 billion will take place at a later stage – in three years’ time or after a positive finding in WTO dispute settlement if that should come sooner.”

The retaliation tariffs (the rebalancing duties) may be found here. Those expected to begin in July are listed in Annex I (almost all at 25 percent). Annex II contains those to begin in three years, or after a positive finding in WTO dispute settlement. Those tariffs range from 10 to 50 percent.