Background

Effective Sept. 1 the U.S. will revise the list of European Union goods subject to additional tariffs in a long-running aircraft subsidy dispute. These tariffs will remain at 25 percent for non-aircraft products and 15 percent for certain large civil aircraft.

For more information on these tariffs and how to mitigate their impact, please contact Nicole Bivens Collinson or Kristen Smith.

Effective Oct. 18, 2019, the U.S. imposed additional tariffs of 25 percent on more than 150 goods imported from EU countries and 10 percent on new aircraft from France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. This action followed a determination by a World Trade Organization arbitrator that the U.S. may impose up to $7.5 billion annually in countermeasures against the EU due to its failure to fully comply with a previous WTO ruling against subsidies it provided to aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has now announced the following modifications to the list of EU goods subject to the 25 percent tariff. These changes will be effective for products entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after 12:01 am EDT on Sept. 1.

- removing HTSUS 0406.90.99 (cheeses and substitutes for cheese (including mixtures), not elsewhere specified or included, without cow’s milk, with butterfat over 0.5 percent by weight, not subject to General Note 15) from Greece

- removing HTSUS 1905.31.00 (sweet biscuits) from the United Kingdom

- adding the following from France or Germany: HTSUS 2007.99.05 (lingonberry and raspberry jams), HTSUS 2007.99.10 (strawberry jam), HTSUS 2007.99.15 (currant and other berry jams), HTSUS 2007.99.20 (apricot jam), HTSUS 2007.99.25 (cherry jam), HTSUS 2007.99.35 (peach jam), and HTSUS 2007.99.60 (strawberry pastes and purees, being cooked preparations)

USTR rejected the EU’s recent claim that it has complied with the WTO ruling and its call for the U.S. to lift its retaliatory tariffs. “The EU has not taken any action on six of the launch aid measures found in the WTO compliance proceedings to continue to be WTO-inconsistent,” USTR said. “Furthermore, although the European Commission recently announced amendments to French and Spanish Airbus A350 XWB launch aid contracts, these actions do not implement the DSB’s recommendations by withdrawing the subsidies received by Airbus.”

However, USTR also said that it would “begin a new process with the EU in an effort to reach an agreement that will remedy the conduct that harmed the U.S. aviation industry and workers and will ensure a level playing field for U.S. companies.”

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