EU’s response to Trump’s war talk: your Levi’s and bourbon are in our crosshairs
Brussels — The EU will on Wednesday set out plans to strike back against US President Donald Trump’s threatened steel and aluminium tariffs, with flagship US products such as jeans, motorbikes and whiskey in the crosshairs. No firm decision is expected as Trump has yet to sign into effect his plan to set tariffs to protect US car makers from what he calls unfair competition, but French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded the EU be ready to act swiftly if he does. European commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday threatened to hit big-name US brands such as Harley Davidson motorbikes, Levi’s jeans and bourbon whiskey with import duties. This prompted Trump to fire back a threat to tax cars from the EU, further fuelling the fear of a full-on transatlantic trade war erupting. “We are looking at possibilities to retaliate, meaning that we will also put taxes or tariffs on US imports to the European Union,” EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem told the BBC on Monday. Despite...
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