Arancha González Laya / EP
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The additional tariffs of the United States are 10% for products of the aeronautical industry and 25% for agri-food, which have been applied since last October 18, 2019 and that affect products such as bottled olive oil, still wines canned, green olives, cheeses, citrus fruits, pork or canned shellfish.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Arancha González Laya, has welcomed this Friday the decision to temporarily suspend all the tariffs imposed between the United States and the European Union in the disputes between Airbus and Boeing for a period of four months, a step that “validates negotiation and dialogue as a method to deal with differences” with Washington.
“This is excellent news for Spanish exporters, responsible for almost 800 million agricultural exports, who have been affected by a dispute in which they had nothing to do with and now find a very clear response from the administration” , has underlined in statements to the Cadena Ser collected by Europa Press.
Along these lines, he has indicated that the European Commission has indicated that the suspension will come into effect in a short period of time and has stressed that the four established months express the “will to resolve the dispute between aeronautical producers through the negotiation ”to reach a pact at that time.
On this point, he stressed the importance of “fixing” this difference between Airbus and Boing because there is also a stake in regulating aid that China gives its aeronautical producers. “While we are distracted fighting among ourselves, we forget that there is another country that is also helping its aeronautical producers,” he emphasized.
In this sense, he has welcomed an agreement between the United States and the EU that “changes the way to resolve trade disputes.” “Dialogue and negotiation instead of bilateral measures,” stressed González Laya, who stressed that this is something “positive” for the future of our transatlantic relations.
To the extent that this suspension of tariffs “validates negotiation and dialogue as a method to deal with differences with the United States,” the head of Spanish diplomacy has said that she trusts that “it will be the beginning of dialogue on other issues that remain pending such steel, aluminum or the Spanish table olive ».
“It is important to negotiate and dialogue to seek spaces for understanding because a strong transatlantic relationship, as Spain wants it, has to be based on mutual trust and the ability to resolve disputes through dialogue,” he argued.
In any case, it has stressed that, although “there is much work to be done”, it is a “concrete gesture” to begin as soon as possible for companies “to recover from this crisis.”
Spain has spent months demanding that the United States take the appropriate measures to comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), since the escalation in the trade conflict is something that has not benefited either party.
As a result of the conflict over aid from Airbus and Boeing, Washington imposed tariffs on European exports worth 7.5 billion dollars, while Europe did the same with North American exports worth 4 billion dollars.
The additional tariffs of the United States are 10% for products of the aeronautical industry and 25% for agri-food, which have been applied since last October 18, 2019 and that affect products such as bottled olive oil, still wines canned, green olives, cheeses, citrus fruits, pork or canned shellfish.
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