European trade ministers on Monday expressed alarm regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to slap a 30% tariff on goods imported from the EU bloc. However, they decided to hold off on retaliatory tariff countermeasures that could impact the U.S. tech sector and, by extension, streaming services such as Netflix, on which the EU could place a digital service tax if a tariff war ensues.
The ministers met Monday in Brussels following Trump’s surprise announcement over the weekend of the hefty tariffs toward the EU, which is America’s biggest business partner.
The “countermeasures” by the EU, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 27 member countries, are being delayed until Aug. 1 in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration.
“I’m absolutely 100% sure that a negotiated solution is much better than the tension which we might have after the 1st of August,” Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade representative in its talks with the U.S., said according to multiple reports. But he added that “we must be prepared for all outcomes.”
Europe’s main exports to the U.S. are pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments and wine and spirits. It’s still unclear how U.S. tariffs would apply to film. Though in May, Trump announced a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country, that threat seems to have fallen to the wayside.
“I don’t have a crystal ball,” Czech producer Jan Kallista said last week during a panel at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival when asked about the Trump tariff effect within the European production scene. “We were hearing [about] this in Cannes but time has now moved, and we have seen how [Trump] pushes for tariffs and then takes it back. I don’t know what the results would be, but he would have to take back some of his proclamations.”
As for EU retaliations, the European Commission, making a strategic U-turn earlier this month to ease tensions, dropped plans to slap a so-called “digital tax” on companies that would have included Meta, Google and Netflix. But analysts say this tax could be revived if a tariff war breaks out.