European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom is continuing to petition the United States for exemptions to the upcoming steel and aluminum tariffs.
Politico quotes her as saying the tariffs will shake the transatlantic relationship between the countries if they go into effect. She told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross during a phone call that the EU “as a close security ally of the U.S., expects to be fully excluded from these measures as a whole.”
Brazil’s Ambassador to the U.S. recently laid out an argument that could possibly fit well with the five criteria the U.S. is said to be looking at in the exemption process.
The lobbying blitz to avoid the upcoming tariffs also includes Hong Kong. That country’s Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development implored the U.S. to exempt the island nation from the “totally unjustified” aluminum duties until they can engage in a full dialogue with the U.S prior to any unilateral action. The Secretary points out that Hong Kong is the economy with which the U.S. has the highest trade surplus. Hong Kong will fight the duties both at the World Trade Organization level, where it’s already expressed formal concern, as well as through bilateral discussions with the U.S.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.