Morocco-EU tensions rise over aluminium wheel duties

Mustapha Baitas, government spokesperson for Morocco, has commented on the EU decision to impose duties on imports of aluminium road wheels from the country.

According to Morocco World News, Baitas states that Morocco will take “any measures it deems appropriate to address these issues”.

This address came on the 20th of March in a press briefing where Baitas added that any Morocco-EU partnership is “global” it cannot be “subject to a selective logic”.

The duties were placed on Morocco by the EU on the 14th of March in a statement where the commission explained their decision to place duties on the aluminium road wheels.

This reasoning was to protect producers and secure 16,600 jobs, which could be at risk from what the commission described as “unfair trading practices”.

In an anti-subsidy investigation by the committee, the group found the Moroccan government was “systematically supporting its automotive sector through WTO-incompatible subsidies, including grants, loans at preferential rates, and tax exemptions/reductions”.

This investigation and commission comes when Morocco finds strength after strength in the industry with recent growth being shown in the continued relationship in the automobile industry between Spain and the North African country.

Moroccan exports in vehicles to Spain stand at 12% by Spain into Morocco.

Whilst the EU is placing duties on the North African country the bilateral relationship has been looking to grow in recent times.

The current tension follows a previous diplomatic challenge stemming from the European Court of Justice’s ruling on Western Sahara, which accused the EU Commission of violating “the right to self-determination” for the region’s population and threatened to nullify key EU-Morocco agreements on fisheries and agriculture.

Morocco firmly rejected the ruling’s relevance, with the Foreign Ministry stating: “Morocco is not a party to this case, which involves the European Union on one side and the ‘Polisario’ supported by Algeria on the other.

Morocco did not participate in any phase of this procedure and, therefore, does not consider itself concerned by the decision.”

This background suggests the aluminium dispute may be part of a more complex pattern in EU-Morocco relations, where trade and political considerations have become increasingly intertwined.

In this regard, Baitas concluded that “It is necessary to find a solution to these problems,”.

If the duties aim to protect European manufacturers and workers, then it appears to be simply in the best interest of the EU, yet in doing so, they may have caused a further rift with Morocco.

Whilst Morocco has seemed keen to find a solution to these issues in the past, the EU must be careful not to push too hard.

Morocco World News