European Union (EU) commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom announced on Wednesday that the European Union has drawn up a list of US products it plans to impose on it if the United States imposes a similar fee on imports from European cars.
"The EU has a list of ready tariffs if the United States imposes taxes on cars," Malmstrom said after meeting in Washington with US Trade Representative Robert Lightzer.
She added that the European response may not be limited to American cars, but could include "all kinds" of US exports to the European Union.
"They can be cars, they can be agricultural products, they can be industrial products, they can be everything, and we'll do it, but we hope we do not get there," she said.
"EU member states have already suffered from steel and aluminum charges, which we believe are totally unjustified. We have brought the case to the WTO and have also imposed measures to rebalance, and we will do the same if taxes are imposed on cars," the EU official said.
Malmstrom's warning comes as the US Department of Commerce prepares to report to the White House on whether there is a need to tax cars.
The European Union "has not received any guarantee" that the United States will exempt them from these taxes if imposed, but the dialogue with Washington, "assuming that there will be no customs duties on the European Union."
"I told Ambassador Laitzer that these tariffs would be detrimental to the European economy but also to the American economy ... that would lead to the loss of many jobs in the US in the automotive sector.
"We do not really negotiate with the Americans. We are discussing how to facilitate regulatory standards, which is very important for identifying sectors," she said, referring mainly to the pharmaceutical and medical equipment sectors.
The European Commissioner reiterated that the agricultural sector will not be the focus of any trade negotiations between Brussels and Washington, contrary to the desire of the Trump administration.
On the other hand, the European official announced "progress" in her talks with Leitzer, who told Congress of the administration's desire to negotiate a trade agreement with the EU.
Stressing that Brussels was ready to negotiate such an agreement, Malmström stressed that the scope of this agreement should be limited and limited to industrial products, including automobiles.
"We are ready to negotiate a small trade agreement on industrial goods," she said.
