European Commission to respond to US steel and aluminum import tariffs
On Thursday evening there was posted a message of the European Commission which followed the announcement of President of the U.S. Donald Trump to introduce tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on imported aluminum next week.
"We strongly regret this step, which appears to represent a blatant intervention to protect US domestic industry and not to be based on any national security justification. Protectionism cannot be the answer to our common problem in the steel sector. Instead of providing a solution, this move can only aggravate matters. The EU has been a close security ally of the U.S. for decades. We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk. I had the occasion to say that the EU would react adequately and that's what we will do. The EU will react firmly and commensurately to defend our interests. The Commission will bring forward in the next few days a proposal for WTO-compatible countermeasures against the U.S. to rebalance the situation," Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement.
Washington believes that import of steel and aluminum threatens America's national security.
The European Commission disagreed. The demand of American militaries for steel and aluminum is only 3% which means that import dependence in the military field is not very big.
