The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration’s increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25 per cent.
The world’s biggest trading bloc was expecting the U.S. tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense transatlantic relations. Only last month, Washington warned Europe that it would have to take care of its own security in the future.
The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($40 billion Cdn) — and not just steel and aluminum products. Textiles, home appliances, agricultural goods will be hit with tariffs, as will motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, the latter of which were also taxed during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term.
The EU duties aim for pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. The tariffs — taxes on imports — primarily target Republican-held states, hitting soybeans in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Louisiana, and also beef and poultry in Kansas and Nebraska. Produce in Alabama, Georgia and Virginia is also on the list.
The European Commission, which manages trade and commercial conflicts on behalf of the 27 EU member countries, said leather goods and agricultural products beyond beef and poultry would be hit, including some seafood, nuts, eggs, sugar and vegetables.
Tariffs ‘not in our common interest’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that the bloc “will always remain open to negotiation.”
“As the U.S. are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” she said. “We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the head of NATO and EU officials in Brussels, hoping to boost trade and political ties as Canada stares down a possible trade war with the United States.
Trump said his taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs, but von der Leyen said: “Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States.”
“We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy,” she said.
The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU said the U.S. tariffs and EU countermeasures “will only harm jobs, prosperity and security on both sides of the Atlantic.”
“The two sides must de-escalate and find a negotiated outcome urgently,” the chamber said Wednesday.
A repeat of Trump’s 1st term
Trump slapped similar tariffs on EU steel and aluminum during his first term in office, which enraged European and other allies. The EU also imposed countermeasures in retaliation at the time.
This time, the EU action will involve two steps. First, on April 1, the commission will reintroduce what it calls “rebalancing measures,” which the EU had from 2018 and 2020 but were then suspended under the Biden administration. Then on April 13 come the additional duties targeting 18 billion euros ($19.6 billion) in U.S. exports to the bloc.
Lots of apparent flip-flopping on the part of U.S. President Donald Trump has given Canada’s public and politicians alike a case of whiplash as they try to navigate the ongoing trade war. Political commentator, author and speechwriter for former president George W. Bush, David Frum, stops by Power & Politics to reflect on the potential lasting damage to the Canada-U.S. relationship and weighs in on what he thinks could be going on in Trump’s head.
EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic travelled to Washington last month in an effort to head off the tariffs, meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other top trade officials.
He said on Wednesday that it became clear during the trip “that the EU is not the problem.”
“I argued to avoid the unnecessary burden of measures and countermeasures, but you need a partner for that. You need both hands to clap,” Sefcovic told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
European steel companies brace for losses
The EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports, according to the European steel association Eurofer. The U.S. is the second-biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16 per cent of the total EU steel exports.
The EU estimates that annual trade volume between both sides stands at about $1.5 trillion US, representing some 30 per cent of global trade. While the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, it says that is partly offset by the U.S. surplus in the trade of services.
Britain, which isn’t part of the EU, meanwhile said it won’t impose retaliatory measures of its own on the U.S.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne will outline how Canada intends to respond to tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.