Accusing the European Union (EU) of illegally subsidizing aerospace giant Airbus, the Trump regime previously identified $21 billion in European goods they may impose tariffs on in response to those subsidies.
The list of European goods that could be subject to tariffs grew by an additional $4 billion last night after the Office of the Trade Representative release an updated list.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office released a list of additional products - including olives, Italian cheese and Scotch whiskey - that could be hit with tariffs, on top of products worth $21 billion that were announced in April.
USTR said it was adding 89 tariff sub-categories to its initial list, including a variety of metals, in response to public comments, but gave no further explanation. Over 40 individuals testified about products included on the initial list at a public hearing on May 15 and 16.
Trump regime officials are referring to their proposed tariffs as 'retaliatory tariffs' under the premise that the EU struck first by subsidizing Airbus, but the EU has made their own case against American subsidies for Boeing and they've prepared their own list of retaliatory tariffs they will impose if Trump moves first.
The dispute between the United States and the EU concerning Airbus and Boeing predates the Trump regime and even the Obama administration. Neither the Bush or Obama administrations imposed tariffs on the EU because they understood that it would only harm Americans in the end. No one wins a trade war.
This case is unique in that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has actually faulted the EU for subsidizing Airbus, but the Trump regime only cites the findings of the WTO when they agree with the organization's findings. And when the WTO finds that the United States has also illegally subsidized Boeing, the Trump regime will either ignore or attack the WTO.
We subsidize virtually everything in the United States. Our entire tax code is engineered to subsidize business, even more so following the GOP's $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for corporations.