The USA and the EU have agreed to resolve the trade dispute

The United States and the European Union have agreed to resolve a protracted trade dispute over US tariffs on steel and aluminum. This was announced on Saturday by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimond. This managed to prevent the growth of retaliatory EU tariffs on American products. The dispute was launched in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump, who introduced tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the EU and a number of other countries. Raimond said the agreement maintained US tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed by Trump under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. At the same time, however, it will allow a limited number of EU products to enter the United States and help both economies face the common problem of global oversupply, mainly from China. Referring to sources, Reuters said the agreement would allow EU countries to export 3.3 million tonnes of duty-free steel to the United States each year under a system of tariff quotas. Higher import volumes will be subject to customs duties, but certain steel products that received exemptions from US tariffs last year could be imported duty free in excess of quotas. Including exemptions, imports of 4.3 million tonnes of steel would be exempt from duty next year. Technically, the agreement leaves in force US tariffs on steel 25 percent and on aluminum ten percent introduced for reasons of national security. In practice, however, it exempts a substantial part of European imports from customs duties. Trump has introduced tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the EU and a number of other states. He justified the widely criticized measure by saying that the import of these products threatens the American economy and thus national security. The EU responded by imposing retaliatory duties on selected US goods, such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Levi Strauss jeans.