German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin February 20, 2019. — Reuters pic
BERLIN, Oct 4 — The European Union will take retaliatory measures in response to new US tariffs on European goods, Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas told newspapers in remarks published today.
“The European Union now will have to react and, after obtaining the approval of the World Trade Organisation, probably impose punitive tariffs as well,” Maas, a member of Germany's governing Social Democrats told German newspaper group Funke.
His comments come after the WTO this week ruled that some subsidies EU states paid to planemaker Airbus were illegal, giving the United States the right to react with tariffs on EU-imported goods.
Washington announced plans for new tariffs on Wednesday.
Germany's finance minister Olaf Scholz, also a Social Democrat, yesterday said Europe should react prudently as trade conflicts in a globalised world were in nobody's interest. — Reuters