EU hoping for tariff exemption: report

The European Union is hoping that the Trump administration will grant it an exemption from stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that President Trump is expected to impose this week, a top EU official said Thursday.

European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen also said that the EU would consider an exemption for one country to apply to the entire bloc, according to Reuters.

“If they try to make an exemption for one of our member states, it means the EU as a whole,” he said. 

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Trump announced last week that he would soon impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum as a way to bolster U.S. manufacturing and national security.

The announcement has drawn widespread condemnation from foreign governments, including in the EU and Canada, which warned of retaliatory measures if the tariffs were put in place.

The EU has warned that it could impose tariffs on motorcycles, Levi’s jeans and bourbon exported from the U.S. in response to the expected steel and aluminum duties.

The White House has indicated that Canada and Mexico could be temporarily exempt from the tariffs while negotiators hammer out a trade deal with the two countries. 

“There are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada based on national security, and possibly other countries as well, based on that process,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday, adding other nations could receive exemptions as well.

“That would be a case-by-case and country-by-country basis but it would be determined [by] whether or not there is a national security exemption,” she said.

Canada and Mexico are among the largest steel exporters to the U.S.