The European Commission said on Wednesday that new US tariff threats linked to forced labour were “unjustified”, arguing that EU legislation is already robust enough to ban such products.
The move comes as the EU prepares to implement a contentious trade deal struck last summer between US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland.
The agreement, criticised by some MEPs as unbalanced, would leave a 15% US tariff on EU goods while the EU eliminates its own duties on US industrial products. EU lawmakers are due to vote on the deal on 16 June.
However, the US administration on Tuesday proposed new 10% tariffs on some trading partners, including the European Union, arguing that insufficient efforts to curb trade in goods produced using forced labour were harming US commercial interests.
The proposed 10% US tariffs would come on top of existing most-favoured-nation duties, pushing average tariff levels above the 15% ceiling set out in the EU-US deal.
