MEPs in the European Parliament have called on the EU to swiftly help EU farmers unduly affected by newly imposed US tariffs worth €6.8bn.

The recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling on Airbus subsidies gave the US the right to levy tariffs on EU exports as retaliation for earlier excessive EU subsidies given to the aircraft maker Airbus.

Since 18 October, the US levied up to 25% tariffs on a large number of agricultural products, including Irish butter, cheese, cream liqueurs and pigmeat.

Unified response

MEPs have said that the EU must respond to new US tariffs in a co-ordinated and unified way.

“As a first step, the EU Commission should closely monitor the market, use all existing tools, such as private storage, market withdrawals and instruments to deal with market disturbances, and mobilise rapid support for the sectors worst affected.

“The EU’s executive should step up efforts to promote EU agricultural products abroad and make promotion-related funding rules more flexible to allow for EU campaigns in the US to be boosted or redirect them on alternative markets,” they said.

Barriers

To help diversify EU export markets, MEPs have insisted that all barriers that prevent exporters from fully using opportunities under EU trade agreements should be removed. They also rejected any cuts to the EU’s farm policy budget and called for its crisis reserve to be reformed.

The EU member states most affected by the WTO-authorised tariffs are the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Ireland, which bear around 95% of the tariffs, hitting farm exports worth €3.5bn, Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström told MEPs this week.

The US is the number one destination of EU agricultural exports. In 2018, these exports reached €22.3bn.

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