European Parliament’s Trade Committee Chairman, Bernd Lange, has called on the European Commission to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods if US President Donald Trump follows through on his plan to double the tariffs on steel and aluminum this week.
Lange, a member of the Social Democratic Party, emphasized that the EU is a fair but also a strong partner and will not be intimidated. He described Trump’s tariffs as “completely illegal and unjustified” but noted that the US president’s announcements often involve a lot of “theatrical noise.”
Trump had announced his plan to raise the tariffs from 25 to 50 percent during a visit to a steel mill in Pennsylvania on Friday, with the changes set to take effect on Wednesday.