Polymer and chemical products are included in a European Commission public consultation on a list of US imports which could become subject to EU countermeasures, if ongoing EU-US negotiations do not result in a mutually beneficial outcome and the removal of the US tariffs.
The consultation will remain open until 10 June, after which a final proposal will be made for the adoption of countermeasures and a legal act prepared for imposing them "in case negotiations with the US do not produce a satisfactory result".
The list of additional products that could face import tariffs includes many polymers and some chemicals, although appears to target value more than volume.
These additions include polypropylene homopolymer and copolymers (HS codes 39021000, 39023000), although these account for a relatively small volume of trade, at 114,000t in 2024, according to GTT data.
Other polymer codes on the consultation list include some polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polyethylene terephthalate products.
Isocyanates and some polyurethanes are part of the consultation.
Imports of acetic acid, a methanol derivative were included. EU 27 imports from the US in 2024 were 540,000t.
Liquid caustic soda has been included. The EU 27 countries imported 540,000t in 2024.
Benzene and xylenes have been included, but only under distinct "non-chemically defined" HS codes (27071000 and 27073000) and for which volumes are small.
The European Union on 9 April announced a 90-day delay to a series of planned countermeasures specific to US tariffs on metals to allow space for negotiations. These are separate from the new consultation and remain poised to go ahead if negotiations fail. They included a 25pc tariff on imports from the US of polyethylene under codes representing nearly 1mnt of imports in 2024.
