The European Union (EU) has backed down on plans to impose tariffs on US goods. They are trying to keep the door open for negotiations to avoid a tariff war with US President Donald Trump for now.
The European Commission has said that it wants to negotiate with the United States on tariffs. Although the European Commission had previously proposed imposing a 25 percent tariff on US goods.
The news agency Reuters has obtained some documents related to the European Commission’s proposal. Based on those documents, Reuters reported that European Union member states could seal the decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on US goods by the end of this week. It was proposed to impose tariffs on various products including diamonds, sausages, nuts, soybeans. However, they have backed down from that decision for now. European Union Trade Commissioner Markos Sefcovic said the European Union is very much in favor of negotiations. But he also made it clear that it will not wait forever.
Trump has decided to impose a 20 percent tariff on European goods in the US market. The world’s trade community is watching what European countries will do after this. Some countries, including China, have also threatened to impose ‘retaliatory tariffs’ on America. In this situation, there was a haze about whether the European Union countries would impose any counter-tariffs. The haze still remains, but Europe wants to keep the door open to negotiations with the Trump administration for now. Sources: Reuters, Al-Jazeera, The Hill.