EU to Unite Against US Tariffs, Consider Retaliatory Measures
The European Union is set to form a united front against the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, likely to approve a first round of targeted countermeasures on US imports worth up to $28 billion.
This move would mean the EU, China and Canada joining forces, imposing retaliatory tariffs on the US. This could be an early escalation of what some fear: a global trade war that makes goods more expensive for billions of consumers and pushes the world’s economies into recession.
The 27-nation bloc is facing import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and aluminum, as well as cars and “reciprocal” tariffs of 20 percent on almost all other goods, starting from Wednesday.
Trump’s tariffs affect about 70 percent of the EU’s exports to the United States, which had a total value of €532 billion (approximately $585 billion) last year. Tariffs on copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and wood are likely to follow in the coming weeks.
EU member states have a wide range of opinions on how to react to the situation. French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested that European companies should put their investments in the US on hold until the situation is clarified. Ireland, whose exports are almost a third of the way to the US, has called for a “carefully considered and proportionate” response, while Italy, the EU’s third-largest exporter to the US, has questioned whether the EU should even retaliate.
EU countermeasures will be put to a vote on Wednesday and will be approved unless a qualified majority of 15 EU member states, representing 65 percent of the EU’s population, speaks out against them.