Bourbon, foie gras, Christmas trees, cars, planes, opium or even sewing machines: the European Union unveiled on Thursday a catalog as strategic as it is amazing American products likely to be surcharged, in retaliation for customs duties imposed by Donald Trump.
This temporary list, 218 pages long, covers American exports representing 95 billion euros in annual trade. It is now subject to public consultation until June 10 and will only come into force if no Agreement is reached to remove the customs measures decided by Washington.
Heavy targets … and unusual
At the heart of this device, Brussels strikes hard by targeting the key sectors of the American economy: the automobile (12 billion euros), aeronautics – mainly Boeing (10.5 billion), as well as plastics and chemicals (12.9 billion). Segments that could undergo heavy consequences, especially for Boeing, already in the midst of an industrial and commercial crisis.
But beyond heavy goods vehicles, the list also contains a series of unexpected products: human hair, food for dogs and cats, living bees, beef languages, camels, parrots, condoms, pearls, opium, and even buffer cars. Bourbon, initially excluded from the first measures to preserve the interests of European wines and spirits, reappears in this new salvo.
Agreement between the United States and England
At the same time, the United Kingdom and the United States have concluded a trade agreement qualified as “historic” which lightens the American surcharge on British exports, especially in the automotive, steel and aluminum sectors. British cars will benefit from an annual quota of 100,000 units to 10 % customs duties instead of 27.5 %. London has also obtained a total exemption for steel and aluminum, while reciprocal agricultural quotas are established, especially on beef and ethanol.
Our file on customs duties
Regarding some concrete points of this agreement negotiated for several weeks, Donald Trump assured that the United Kingdom would open up more to American products, for “several billion dollars”, “in particular for American beef, ethanol and almost all the products produced by our dear farmers”. On the British side, Keir Starmer spoke of an “extremely important” agreement for the automotive industry and the British steel industry.
