The U.S. administration introduces customs duties on imports of steel and aluminum products from the European Union, CANADA and Mexico from June 1. This was announced on Thursday at a special briefing for journalists by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
"As you know, the President [US President Donald Trump] introduced customs duties on steel and aluminum from a fairly large number of countries on March 23. And when he made that decision, he also temporarily exempted
SOUTH KOREA, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, the European Union and Canada with Mexico from these duties. These exemptions expire at midnight on May 31," said the
HEAD of the Ministry of Commerce.
"He [Trump] decided, in the case of Canada, Mexico and the European Union, not to extend these exemptions. Therefore, they will be subject to 25% duty on steel and 10% duty on aluminum, starting from today's midnight," said the head of the Ministry of Commerce.
The European Union will resolutely speak with one voice if the U.S. introduces duties on steel and aluminum, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa in Lisbon today.
According to her, the EU countries have agreed to "respond in a competent, determined and unified way," emphasizing that the restrictive measures of U.S. President Donald Trump "do not meet the rules of the World Trade Organization.
March 23, the U.S. introduced new duties on steel and aluminum products - 25% for steel and 10% for aluminum. They are in effect for all countries that supply products to the U.S., but Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, as well as the European Union countries were postponed until June 1.