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The Vice-President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic will discuss on Friday with representatives of the US administration regarding trade, including Washington’s threats to impose tariffs on wines and other spirits from EU countries.
Sefcovic will have phone conversations in the afternoon, among others, with the US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to impose a 200-percent tariff on wines and other spirits from EU countries if the EU does not withdraw the announced tariffs on American whiskey, which were declared the previous day. These tariffs are in response to the 25-percent American tariffs on steel and aluminum, imported from the EU, among others.
Spokesperson Olof Gill on behalf of the European Commission expressed regret on Friday in Brussels and acknowledged that Sefcovic’s discussions with US officials would address these threats.
“We do not believe this will help anyone, and we have clearly stated that we want the United States to immediately revoke the tariffs already imposed and refrain from imposing additional ones because they benefit neither them, nor us, nor consumers, nor companies, nor anyone,” he said.
He added that if the United States insists on continuing this “harmful and counterproductive, and in our opinion, deeply unfair course of action, the EU will respond to protect its consumers, industry, and fair chances.”
“We believe that the best way is to completely remove these tariffs and return to building EU-US trade relations instead of destroying them,” the spokesperson emphasized.
The European Commission was also asked whether it is considering imposing tariffs on services, whether digital or financial, imported from the United States. “We will not engage in speculation about what we might or might not do in the future,” Gill replied. (14.03.2025)