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EU Trade\u00a0Commissioner Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d presented EU trade ministers gathered in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting on Monday\u00a0a list of \u20ac72 billion worth of US products to be included in a retaliatory tariff drive, as US pressure ramped up over the weekend with the threat of 30% tariffs on EU imports starting on 1 August.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must be prepared for all outcomes, including if necessary, well-considered proportionate measures to restore balance in our transatlantic relationship,\u201d \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d said, adding: \u201cToday the Commission is sharing with the member states the proposal for the second list of goods, accounting of some \u20ac72 billion worth of US Imports. They will now have a chance to discuss it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The list proposed by the Commission, which has been reduced from \u20ac72 billion to \u20ac95 billion after consultation of EU industries and member states, still has to be adopted formally by the member states. It targets a wide range of products including US aeroplanes and Bourbon whiskey.<\/p>\n
On 12 July, after weeks of negotiations, US President Donald Trump published on Truth Social a letter sent to the Commission threatening to impose 30% tariffs on EU imports if no deal is reached by 1 August.<\/p>\n
Last week, negotiations appeared to have entered the final stretch, with the EU having reluctantly agreed to a baseline tariff of 10% on its imports. Sector-specific exemptions were still needing to be negotiated, the EU having managed to secure 0% on aircraft and spirits and some US tariffs just above 10% on agri-products.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very very close to an agreement in principle,\u201d Danish foreign affairs minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen regretted.<\/p>\n
The US currently imposes\u00a050% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all EU imports.<\/p>\n
According to an EU diplomat, EU retaliation could also include export controls on aluminium scrap, which the US needs.<\/p>\n
But while the EU is flexing its muscles, it continues to prioritise negotiation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain convinced that our transatlantic relationship deserves a negotiated solution, one that leads to renewed stability and cooperation,\u201d Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d\u00a0said before announcing he had a call planned with his US counterparts on Monday late afternoon.<\/p>\n
On 13 July, the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a delay in the implementation of an initial retaliatory measure targeting \u20ac21 billion worth of American products, which had been suspended until 15 July.<\/p>\n
According to the same EU diplomat, a meeting of EU ambassadors had originally decided to postpone it until the end of the year, but Trump’s new announcements have made these countermeasures more urgent. They have therefore been postponed until 1 August.<\/p>\n
Anti-coercion instrument<\/strong><\/p>\n Behind the show of unity displayed on Monday by member states, diplomats are however well aware that complications will arise once a deal with the US is on the table.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be realistic we will all have different interpretations,\u201d an official from a member states told Euronews, admitting that once a deal is reached some countries will push for strong retaliation while others will want to avoid escalation, depending on which of their strategic sectors is most\u00a0hit by the US.<\/p>\n France continues to advocate a hard line toward the US, eager to put all the tools at the EU\u2019s disposal on the table, including the use of the anti-coercion instrument \u2014 the \u201cnuclear option\u201d of EU trade defence,\u00a0adopted in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cThis pressure, deliberately applied by the US president in recent days and weeks, is straining our negotiating capacity and must lead us to show that Europe is a power,\u201d French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on arrival at the Council, adding: \u201cEurope is a power when it knows how to demonstrate its ability to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe US has escalation dominance,\u201d a second EU diplomat told Euronews.<\/p>\n On Sunday Commission president Ursula Von der\u00a0Leyen ruled out use of the anti-coercion instrument for the time being.<\/p>\n \u201cThe anti-coercion is created for extraordinary situations,\u201d she said, adding: \u201cWe are not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n The tool would allow the EU to withdraw licences and intellectual property rights from foreign companies including US tech giants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ADVERTISEMENT EU Trade\u00a0Commissioner Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d presented EU trade ministers gathered in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting on Monday\u00a0a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,7221,299,5187,1201,554],"class_list":{"0":"post-264703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-eu-policy","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-trade","13":"tag-trump-tariffs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114852609665771509","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}