The European Union has voted to impose tariffs on some goods imported from America.
The union’s member states voted in favour of introducing “trade countermeasures against the United States”, the European Commission announced on Wednesday.
In a statement, the European Commission said the tariffs would start being collected on April 15, and were in response to the 25% import taxes President Trump imposed on all steel and aluminium, which came into force in mid-March
The statement reads: “The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy.
“The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the US, which would be balanced and mutually beneficial.”
The commission added that their “countermeasures can be suspended at any time, should the US agree to a fair and balanced negotiated outcome.”
The tariffs will affect €20.9bn (£18bn) worth of US goods, and will be bought in in three phases, starting with €3.9bn worth of goods on April 15.
Last Wednesday, Trump announced a 20% tariff on all EU imports to the US as part of his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs strategy.
This was along with a universal 10% rate on all imports and higher rates for what he called the “worst offenders”, such as the EU and China.
China’s tariffs have since risen to a ludicrous 104% after they refused to back down on their own retaliatory tariffs.
Trump has not yet responded to the news of the EU’s countermeasures.
So far, the tariff policy has wiped hundreds of billions off the global stock market. After huge losses on Monday, markets recovered slightly on Tuesday, however Wednesday has seen huge volatility across the world.
Whilst some US markets have rallied, European and Asian markets have seen further losses, and some investors have been selling their long term US government bonds.
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