THE HAGUE, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is taking a bridge too far with the new tariff on steel and aluminum and the investigation into car taxes, Dutch employers association VNO-NCW said in a statement on Friday.
"Protectionism and additional import duties have never been good for a country and its citizens," says Hans de Boer, chairman of VNO-NCW. "It is therefore important that both the European Union and the United States keep calm, and ensure that the situation does not escalate any further."
"It is very sad that the American president puts the favorable economic development in Europe and the Netherlands at risk in this way," he added. "The Americans also shoot in their own foot, because Tata supplies products that the US needs."
Dutch Steel is produced at Tata Group's plant in IJmuiden on the North Sea coast. U.S. imports of Dutch-made steel were worth 570 million euros (666 million U.S. dollars) in 2017, representing 6 percent of total Dutch domestic production, behind Britain (8 percent), France (9 percent), Belgium (12 percent) and Germany (30 percent), according to Dutch national statistics bureau CBS.
According to the U.S. government's latest decision, the EU's exception from import duties of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum that were first imposed in March, came to an end on June 1.
VNO-NCW also stated it is very worried about further escalation as Trump investigates additional measures against the European car industry.
"The Netherlands in particular has many suppliers for the car industry and can be hit so hard," said the statement.
