EU says to respond to 'unjustified' US metal tariffs

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday voiced concern over "unilateral" U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum.

"I am concerned by this decision. The EU believes these unilateral U.S. tariffs are unjustified and at odds with World Trade Organization rules," Juncker said in a statement.

The statement came in response to the U.S. announcement in March of imposing additional duties of 25 percent and 10 percent respectively on imports of steel and aluminum from the EU starting on June 1, 2018.

"This is protectionism, pure and simple. Over the past months we have continuously engaged with the U.S. at all possible levels to jointly address the problem of overcapacity in the steel sector," he said.

Juncker said overcapacity has remained at the heart of the problem and the EU was not the source of but on the contrary equally hurt by it.

"It’s a bad day for world trade. U.S. leaves us no choice but to proceed with a WTO dispute settlement case and the imposition of additional duties on a number of U.S. imports," he said.

He also said the Western block will defend its interests in full compliance with the international trade law.