“Absolutely unacceptable” was the shocked European Union response to President Donald Trump’s weekend announcement that the U.S. intends to impose 30% tariffs on goods from the bloc.
EU trade ministers met in Brussels yesterday, stunned by Trump’s surprise announcement, bent on finding countermeasures to offset the president’s heavy tariffs, and the repercussions they could have for governments, companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. The EU is Washinton’s biggest business partner and the world’s largest trading bloc.
After yesterday’s meeting, Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade representative in its talks with the U.S., said that it was “very obvious” from the ministers’ discussions that “the 30% is absolutely unacceptable.”
The Commission was sharing proposals with the 27 member countries “for the second list of goods accounting of some 72 billion euros worth of U.S imports”, he said. “This does not exhaust our toolbox, and every instrument remains on the table.”
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Foreign Minister, said the ministers vowed to work together in negotiating a trade deal with Washington or agreeing on countermeasures. Denmark currently holds the EU presidency.
“The EU remains ready to react and that includes robust and proportionate countermeasures if required and there was a strong, feeling in the room of unity,” Rasmussen told media after the meeting.
The tariffs, also announced for Mexico, come into effect on 1 August. They could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the U.S., while also threatening to destabilise economies from Portugal to Norway.
With an eye to arriving at a deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month, Brussels had opted to suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods which had been scheduled to take effect yesterday. Countermeasures by the EU, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of the 27 member countries, are to be placed on hold until 1 August.
Trump’s letter shows “that we have until the first of August” to negotiate, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels on Sunday.
Maroš Šefčovič said he was “absolutely 100% sure that a negotiated solution is much better than the tension which we might have after the 1st of August,” adding, however, that “we must be prepared for all outcomes.”
“I cannot imagine walking away without genuine effort. Having said that, the current uncertainty caused by unjustified tariffs cannot persist indefinitely and therefore we must prepare for all outcomes, including, if necessary, well-considered proportionate countermeasures to restore the balance in our transit static relationship.”
Trump’s letters to the EU and Mexico come in the midst of his on-again, off-again threats to impose tariffs on countries and offset an imbalance in trade.
In April, Trump imposed tariffs on dozens of countries, then paused them for 90 days in order to negotiate individual deals. With that three-month grace period ending this week, he began sending tariff letters to leaders, but yet again pushed back the implementation day for what he says will be just a few more weeks.
Should he press ahead with the tariffs, the effects will resonate across the global economy. The American Chamber of Commerce in the European Union, an industry group representing major American corporations in Europe, said the tariffs could “generate damaging ripple effects across all sectors of the EU and US economies” and praised the EU’s delay of countermeasures.
Officials told reporters on Friday they weren’t expecting a letter like the one sent Saturday and that a trade deal was to be inked in “the coming days.” For months, the EU has broadcast that it has strong retaliatory measures ready if talks fail.
Reeling from successive rebukes from Washington, Šefčovič said Monday the EU is “doubling down on efforts to open new markets” and pointed to a new economic agreement with Indonesia as one.
Top EU officials are to visit Beijing for a summit later this month. Indonesia signed a new economic partnership with the EU at the weekend, and similar deals are in the works with Mexico and the South American trading bloc Mercosur.
Meeting with Indonesia’s president on Sunday, Von der Leyen said that “when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together.”
