EU lawmaker says counter-tariffs should "really hurt" U.S.
The chairman of the European Parliament's international trade committee says the EU should target American goods that will "really hurt" the United States if President Donald Trump moves forward with threats to raise tariffs on foreign-made steel or cars.
Bernd Lange says the European Union doesn't have to match U.S. tariffs cent for cent, but should carefully aim at American exports such as soya bean, sweetcorn and corn.
Lange told public broadcaster rbb-Inforadio on Tuesday that the Europeans should take "measures that really hit home."
He expressed hope that "reasonable" voices in the United States would prevent Trump from imposing the tariffs.
Retaliation from trading partners could create a risk to the U.S. real GDP growth outlook for 2019 and 2020, according to PNC Senior International Economist Bill Adams.
"Tariffs' most meaningful impact on U.S. output and employment would come from trading partners' inevitable retaliation: Canada, the European Union, China, and others have warned that they would tit-for-tat retaliate against U.S. exporters," he noted in a Monday email.
Nevertheless, Capital Economics economists said in a Monday report they believe "any retaliation from key trade partners would be fairly measured, in order to contain the risk of escalation."