EU tariffs to target 20 billion euros of US imports - diplomats

BRUSSELS - The European Commission has drawn up a list of US imports worth around 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion) that it could hit with tariffs over a transatlantic aircraft subsidy dispute, EU diplomats said on Friday.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to impose tariffs on $11 billion worth of European Union products over what Washington sees as unfair subsidies given to European planemaker Airbus.

The EU measures would relate to the bloc's World Trade Organization complaint over subsidies to rival Boeing.

WTO arbitrators have yet to set final amounts of potential countermeasures in each case.

The Commission said earlier this week that it had begun preparatory work on countermeasures in the Boeing case. However, it signaled it was open for talks with the US, provided these were without preconditions and aimed to achieve a fair outcome.

EU diplomats said the Commission was expected to publish a list of products on April 17 and begin a process of public consultation, after which the list could then be adjusted.

The final amount decided by the WTO arbitrator could also be lower. The EU had also initially requested that the WTO authorize countermeasures of $12 billion.

The arbitrator's decision may not come before March 2020. In the US case a WTO decision could come in June or July this year.

Reuters