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EU Trade Chief Nominee Urges US Not to Launch New Tariff War

Associated Press

   BRUSSELS - The Irishman set to take over as the European Union's top
   trade official on Monday urged the United States not to launch an
   economically damaging tariff war with the bloc over subsidies to Airbus
   and Boeing.

   The World Trade Organization ruled in May that Europe illegally
   subsidized Airbus, hurting U.S. competitor Boeing. The WTO is set
   shortly to allow President Donald Trump to slap tariffs worth billions
   of euros on European products -- including wine, cheese and olives --
   in response. The EU has brought a similar case at the WTO accusing the
   U.S. government of illegally subsidizing Boeing, and a ruling in its
   favor is expected, but is still months off.

   "I would ask the United States to negotiate with us rather than having
   a tit-for-tat trade war that only does damage to both economies," Phil
   Hogan told EU lawmakers at a hearing assessing his suitability for the
   post of EU trade commissioner. If endorsed by the European Parliament,
   he would take office along with the rest of the new European Commission
   team in November.

   Hogan said "it doesn't make sense" for the Trump administration to
   launch a tariff war "seeing that they're going to have to deal with the
   issue if it goes badly wrong for them on Boeing."

   "Europe has to stand up for itself as well, in terms of the products
   that we will identify in return," he added.

   Trans-Atlantic trade tensions soared after Trump imposed tariffs of 25
   percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum from the
   EU last year. He said the move was to protect U.S. national security
   interests, but the Europeans claim it is simply protectionism and
   breaks global trade rules.

   In response, the EU introduced "rebalancing" tariffs on about 2.8
   billion euros ($3 billion) worth of U.S. steel, agricultural and other
   products. Trump has also threatened to slap duties on European
   automakers.

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