EU Threatens to Retaliate if U.S. Does not Repeal Steel Tariffs and FSC Program
Yesterday, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy concluded two days of talks with Bush administration officials by delivering a promise of retaliatory sanctions if the United States does not lift its steel tariffs and repeal the foreign sales corporation tax subsidies by the end of 2003.
This coming Monday, the WTO is scheduled to issue its final ruling against the section 201 safeguards imposed by the U.S. on imported steel in March 2003. Lamy said the European Union will then give the U.S. five days to lift the tariffs or face the imposition of up to $2.2 billion in retaliatory tariffs by Dec. 15, 2003.
The WTO has previously ruled the U.S. foreign sales corporation tax an illegal export subsidy and the EU promised to impose up to $4 billion in retaliatory tariffs on 1,866 products by March 2004 if Congress does not repeal the subsidies this year.
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
