The Industrial Truck Association (ITA) has allayed fears about potential tariffs for imports from the European Union.

The association has told members that the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) Office released its final determination and list of products subject to additional tariffs originating from select European Union countries. "No forklift-related products were on the list and this was also confirmed by USTR Counsel," ITA points out.

The Trump Administration on June 26, 2020 published a list of USD3.1 billion worth of European goods that could be subject to US retaliatory duties in a long-running dispute over European government subsidies for Airbus. ITA notes that the US already has retaliatory duties on USD7.5 billion worth of European goods in the dispute. It took that action after receiving authorisation from the World Trade Organisation.

"This review (of further tariffs) was required by Congress under a trade law provision known as 'carousel', which requires the US Trade Representative to review any WTO-sanctioned retaliation list every six months for possible changes," ITA says.

The next review will take place again in 180 days and ITA will continue to monitor developments on behalf of its members.

Forklifts were caught up in the first round of US import tariffs against China in 2018, but a number of US importers of Chinese-made forklifts managed to get some relief late last year.