Global News Of Note: European Union Plans Retaliatory Tariffs On U.S. Products

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• On May 8, the European Union (EU) on Thursday announced a plan to ramp up trade pressure on the United States if trade negotiations between the two fail. Specifically, the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, outlined $107 worth of goods that officials would target with higher tariffs in retaliation to the duties that the United States has announced or imposed. The EU also plans to start a World Trade Organization dispute against the United States. Read more at this link. In related news: as Inside Trade reported, the United States declined to allow the EU to join a dispute brought by Canada over the Trump administration’s increased steel and aluminum tariffs. The EU requested to join the dispute in March, arguing it had a “substantial trade interest” in it.
• Israel’s Ministry of Economic announced last week that it will impose tariffs on imports of aluminum profiles and rods from China. The penalties will range from 61 percent to 146 percent. Ministry officials noted that the tariffs highlight the need for nations to “protect their producers from unfair trade if they want to survive.” Read more at this link.