US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Thursday that the trade deal with the European Union may resolve Washington’s concerns about forced labour that serve as justification for new US tariffs.
Greer’s office (USTR) earlier this week proposed new duties ranging from 10 to 12.5 percent that target 60 economies for alleged failures to act against forced labour, a move that has created fresh tensions with key trading partners.
The European Union quickly protested its findings that it had failed to impose and enforce prohibitions on importing goods made with forced labour.
The bloc called on Washington to fully respect the terms of the so-called Turnberry trade deal reached last year, which caps US levies on most European goods at 15 percent.
“We understand that a deal is a deal and we’re going to take into account the Turnberry deal,” Greer said in Paris on the sidelines of a meeting at the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development.
The Trump administration wants to resolve trade practices identified as problematic by USTR investigations, he said.
“Because we believe that the Turnberry deal addresses a lot of these issues, if it’s fully implemented… we believe that there’s room to accommodate that deal within the context of what we’re doing, provided that the European Union delivers on the Turnberry deal,” Greer said.
Following US pressure, the EU’s 27 member states and the European Parliament last month put the Turnberry deal on track for final approval by EU lawmakers ahead of the Trump Administration’s deadline of July 4.
The new tariffs have yet to go into effect. A public comments period is open until July 6 and then the USTR will hold hearings.
After the US Supreme Court struck down a swath of Trump’s tariffs in February, US officials began new trade probes in a push to impose more lasting duties.
Apart from the investigations on forced labour, Greer also opened probes on excess industrial capacity.
Add Comment