US Slams EU Over Tariffs on High Tech

The US butted heads with the European Union today over import tariffs on more than $70 billion worth of computer screens and other technology products, Reuters reports. "The EU should be working with the United States to promote new technologies, not finding protectionist gimmicks to apply new duties to these products," said a trade representative.

The EU "strongly rejected" the complaints, charging instead that Washington has refused to negotiate changes in the World Trade Organization's Information Technology Agreement, which removed tariffs from high-tech goods in 1997. The EU charges up to 14% on new electronics it deems are no longer covered by the pact. (More WTO stories.)