Norway objects to new US tariffs on its exports

Norway protested on Friday against a new wave of United States tariffs, saying the duties were higher for Norway than for the European Union. The new US tariffs targeting 60 trading partners took effect Friday, replacing a global duty introduced earlier in the year by President Donald Trump. Norway faces tariffs of 12.5 percent on a number of products, while EU exports to the United States face levies of 10 percent. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Norway was firmly opposed to what he called the United States' unilateral use of customs duties against Norway and other countries. He also said Norway disputed the US justification for imposing the new duties. Barth Eide said Oslo had urged Washington to ensure Norwegian products were treated on an equal footing with other European products. The United States accounts for less than five percent of Norway's goods exports, according to official statistics cited in the source, but it is an important market for seafood products, including Norwegian salmon. The European Union said earlier that the new tariff regime matched US tariff commitments agreed in an EU-US joint statement, easing concerns that the measures could be retaliation for a large EU fine on Google.