As one US trade war – that with China – enters a fragile truce, another trade war is about to make a dramatic return.
A little under three months after the US announced in early April that it would seek tariffs on roughly $21 billion of European goods over EU subsidies to Airbus aircraft, and which in turn was followed almost immediately by European threats of $12 billion in retaliatory tariffs on US products such as Ketchup, Orange Juice and Tobacco, moments ago the US trade representative proposed a supplemental list of products that could potentially be subject to additional duties in order to enforce U.S. rights in the WTO dispute against the European subsidies airplane
This supplemental list adds 89 “tariff subheadings” with a trade value of $4 billion to the initial list published on April 12, which had an approximate trade value of $21 billion. USTR is adding to the initial list with the supplemental list in response to public comments and additional analysis.
In the event the Arbitrator issues its decision prior to completion of the public comment process on the supplemental list, the USTR may immediately impose increased duties on the products included in the initial list, and take further possible actions with respect to products on the supplemental list.
The supplemental list, as well as the schedule for a public hearing and written comments, are set out in a notice that will be published shortly in the Federal Register.
And now we wait as Europe counters with its own expanded list of tariffs on US imports, sending the market surging on “hopes of an imminent trade war deal/ceasefire” between the US and Europe.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2XmbT9S Tyler Durden