Europe retaliates over Bush tariffs

EUROPE has outlined plans for a retaliatory strike against America's trade tariffs on steel by unveiling its intentions to impose duty of between 14% and 26% on imports of the metal into the European Union.

Officials in Brussels said the European Commission would agree on Wednesday to impose the duties on about 5.7m tonnes of Europe's 26.5m tonne annual steel imports. The tariffs are set to run for an initial 200-day period. The move follows a unilateral decision by the Bush administration earlier this month to impose 30% tariffs on most steel imports into America for the next three years.

That decision provoked a furious reaction from free marketeers around the world, including unusual criticism of the US government by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.

The European measures are designed to protect the Union from possible dumping by low-cost global producers now forced to divert exports that had been intended for America. The news helped shares in FTSE 100-listed steelmaker Corus add 1p to 87 1/4p.

The European Union is also studying possible retaliatory import tariffs on up to $2bn of other American imports into Europe should talks surrounding compensation break down.