Europe

The European Union’s trade chief said on Friday the bloc had “no alternative” but to respond in kind to tariffs stemming from a World Trade Organization dispute over aircraft subsidies the U.S. imposed this week, which have drawn a mixed response from U.S. business groups.

“The trade imbalance is so great that we can’t lose that because they do much more business than we do and that’s unfortunate.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday proposed an outline of an international tax structure that would allow countries to tax companies that do not have a physical presence in those countries, a step toward an agreement that could supplant digital services taxes already in place or under consideration.

"The best thing we can do is to remain united and the worst thing we can do is to have fights and spats on issues that make absolutely no sense when we have to keep our eye on something bigger."

The United States will impose 10 percent tariffs on aircraft and 25 percent tariffs on agricultural and industrial goods from the European Union in retaliation for illegal subsidies EU member states provided to Airbus, according to senior administration officials.

“The EU’s leadership role in global trade has never been more important or faced as many challenges as it does today,” he said.

Guy Parmelin cited an hourlong meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

The European Union last week rebutted several arguments the U.S. has advanced to defend its Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, contending in Geneva that they undermine the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system.

The next European Commission will consider sanctioning the U.S. for its trading practices if the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system is paralyzed at the hands of the Trump administration, according to a Sept. 10 letter from EU Commission President-elect Ursula Von der Leyen to Trade Commissioner-nominee Phil Hogan.