The EU will increase tariffs on agricultural produce from the US from tomorrow (Wednesday, November 11), as part of a wider response to an ongoing dispute in the civil aviation sector.

These trade tensions follow a case that went before the World Trade Organization (WTO) over state support for the aircraft companies Airbus, which was receiving support from the EU, and Boeing, which was receiving support from the US government.

The US originally applied tariffs on EU produce (including agri-produce) in October 2019, following permission to do so by the WTO.

The European Commission’s new regulation, increasing tariffs on US exports (including agri-exports) into the EU worth $4 billion (€3.38 billion), will be published in the Official Journal of the EU today.

According to a commission statement, countermeasures have been agreed by EU member states since the US has not yet provided the basis for a negotiated settlement, which would include an immediate removal of US tariffs on EU exports.

The WTO formally authorised the EU on October 26 to take such countermeasures against apparently illegal US subsidies to Boeing.

Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Trade, said: “We have made clear all along that we want to settle this long-running issue. Regrettably, due to lack of progress with the US, we had no other choice but to impose these countermeasures.

We call on the US to agree to both sides dropping existing countermeasures with immediate effect, so we can quickly put this behind us. Removing these tariffs is a win-win for both sides, especially with the pandemic wreaking havoc on our economies.

The commission said that the EU countermeasures “bring the EU equal footing with the US, with sizeable tariffs on each side based on two WTO decisions related to aircraft subsidies”.

These include additional tariffs of 25% on a range of agricultural and industrial products imported from the US, “strictly mirroring” the tariffs originally imposed on the EU by the US.