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EU now targeting US peanut butter, cranberries in retaliatory tariffs

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EU now targeting US peanut butter, cranberries in retaliatory tariffs

The European Commission has added peanut butter and cranberries to the list of U.S. exports it might target in retaliation for new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Following the European Commission's College of Commissioners meeting to discuss the tariffs March 7, European Union trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told reporters in a televised news conference that American peanut butter and cranberry exports could be subject to European retaliatory tariffs.

The formal EU list of targeted American products has not yet been made public and is subject to approval by the EU's 28 member countries.

Recent press reports have listed Harley-Davidson Inc. motorcycles, Levi Strauss & Co. jeans, U.S.-made shirts, textiles, footwear, cosmetics and recreational boats as potential targets for the European Commission. The list reportedly includes American products worth roughly $3.46 billion.

In a March 7 press release, the European Commission said it still hopes that the U.S. will not include the EU, which it called a "USA security partner," in the 25% tariff on all U.S. steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum imports proposed by President Donald Trump on March 1.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business on March 7 that the administration does not plan to back down from implementing the tariffs despite vocal opposition from Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as well as former Trump administration top economic adviser Gary Cohn, who resigned March 6 in the wake of the looming trade war.

"We are definitely going to end up with these tariffs and we're going to roll this out very, very quickly," Mnuchin said. "But again there will be a mechanism where to the extent that the president wants to give waivers the president can do that. We are moving forward with these tariffs and that's the plan."

The news site Axios, citing two senior administration officials, reported March 7 that Trump plans to sign his steel and aluminum tariffs into effect March 8. Whether the EU or any other countries are exempt from the global tariffs remains to be seen.

Malmstrom said in a news release that U.S.-imposed tariffs would put thousands of European jobs in jeopardy and would be met with "firm and proportionate response."

"We also hope to convince the US administration that this is not the right move," Malmstrom said. "As no decision has been taken yet, no formal action has been taken by the European Union."

"Unlike these proposed US duties, our three tracks of work are in line with our obligations in the [World Trade Organization]," she added. "They will be carried out by the book."

European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted March 7 about the nature of trade wars.

"President Trump said: 'trade wars are good and easy to win.' But the truth is trade wars are bad and easy to lose," Tusk tweeted. "EU's goal is to keep world trade alive and if necessary to protect European by proportionate responses."

A Reuters report, citing a World Trade Organization spokesman, said China voiced concerns with U.S. tariffs in Geneva on March 7, saying that "many said they feared tit-for-tat retaliation which could spiral out of control."

Business trade groups in the U.S. continued to mount opposition to the tariffs.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said March 7 that the tariffs would "directly harm American manufacturers" and "provoke widespread retaliation from our trading partners."

"The U.S. Chamber is very concerned about the increasing prospects of a trade war, which would put at risk the economic momentum achieved through the administration's tax and regulatory reforms," U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue said in a statement. "We urge the administration to take this risk seriously and specifically to refrain from imposing new worldwide tariffs on steel and aluminum."