European Union to Impose Trade Sanctions on U.S.
By REUTERS
Filed at 2:14 p.m. ET
by Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said on Thursday the EU would impose $200 million in economic sanctions on the United States beginning on Monday because of Congress' failure to repeal tax breaks declared illegal by the World Trade Organization.
``The picture is now quite clear. Countermeasures will go into effect by next Monday,'' Lamy told the European American Business Council after meeting with the chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.
The retaliation will hit a wide array of agricultural and manufactured goods ranging from buckwheat to nuclear reactor parts. Lamy said the sanctions would remain in effect until Congress passes legislation to repeal the tax breaks.
Lamy said it remained unclear how long it would take Congress to do that but he said ``the sooner, the better'' for U.S.-EU business relations.
The sanctions begin with a 5 percent duty on more than $4 billion worth of U.S. exports to Europe. That duty will increase by 1 percentage point each month up to a cap of 17 percent. However, Lamy said the sanctions will be dropped ``the day Congress passes the new legislation'' to repeal the tax breaks.