The clock is ticking. Time to permanently remove tariffs on sectors unrelated to the steel and aluminium and large civil aircraft disputes!

With less than a month before the re-imposition of tariffs in the U.S.-EU steel and aluminium dispute on 1 January 2024, 87 sectors unrelated to the EU-U.S. steel and aluminium and the large aircraft disputes urge U.S. and EU leaders to reach an agreement to permanently remove all retaliatory tariffs on products unrelated to these disputes. The prospect of the return and increase of retaliatory tariffs in the steel and aluminium dispute, barely a month away, is causing unbearable uncertainty and instability for unrelated sectors.
Between 2018 and 2021, our industries and supply chains were severely impacted by the imposition of tariffs in disputes wholly unrelated to our sectors. We applauded the crucial agreements EU and U.S. leaders reached to suspend tariffs in 2021. These agreements provided important relief for our sectors, supported economic recovery after the difficult COVID period, and removed barriers to trade.

We hoped that a resolution of the steel and aluminium dispute would have been reached at the EU-U.S. Presidential Summit on 20 October. We now face the prospect of the reimposition of duties on our products, ingredients, and raw materials in the steel and aluminium dispute to the amount of more than €1.3 billion ($1.43 billion) as of 1 January 2024. In the large civil aircraft dispute, tariffs would return in June 2026 without an agreement.

Therefore, we urge U.S. and EU leaders to prioritise securing the permanent removal of these debilitating tariffs on sectors unrelated to the steel and aluminium and large civil aircraft disputes. This would allow our members to strengthen the transatlantic trading relationship, which is critical to our industries, and to tackle pressing common challenges together in a spirit of unity.

If the permanent removal of tariffs on sectors unrelated to the disputes is not possible at this time, a further suspension of duties in the steel and aluminium dispute is necessary and should be announced without delay. The suspension should be long enough to provide affected sectors with long-term predictability.