POLITICO — 2025-03-12
News from Brussels
Brussels strikes back against the US president’s 25% levies on steel and aluminum.
The European Union hit back hard as US President Donald Trump imposed 25% global steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, announcing a two-stage retaliation covering €26 bn in EU exports that far exceeded a trade fight that blew up in his first term.
The European Commission said it would, from 1 April, reimpose tariffs in response to €8 bn in US tariffs — including on iconic American products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and jeans. And, from mid-April, it will set further countermeasures over €18 bn in new US tariffs, subject to the approval of EU member states.
“We deeply regret this measure,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in an early-morning statement.
“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. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States. The European Union must act to protect consumers and business.”
Speaking before the announcement, one European steel industry representative said that Brussels would “go full sledgehammer because they are so fed up with Trump.”
The 27-nation bloc — a common market spanning 450 mn people — wants to send an unmistakable message that the EU is serious about defending its economic interests should Trump launch a full-scale trade war.
The $1.7 trn transatlantic trade relationship has been pivotal to the West’s postwar prosperity. But Trump, angered by the persistent US trade deficit in goods, sees tariffs as a way to force businesses to bring industrial investment and jobs back to the United States.
The US levies on steel and aluminum would hit Canada and Mexico the hardest — but the EU, as the No. 3 supplier of steel to America, would not survive unscathed. Brussels worries that further “reciprocal” tariffs threatened by Trump would, if implemented, hit exports of automobiles, pharmaceuticals and food.
The Commission left the door open to a deal with Trump, saying it “remains ready to work with the US administration to find a negotiated solution” and adding that its measures “can be reversed at any time should such a solution be found.”
Early start
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive, will brief member countries at breakfast time on Wednesday — just a few hours after the US tariffs kicked in at one minute past midnight in Washington, or 5.01 a.m. Brussels time.
In the weeks since Trump returned to the White House and started announcing tariffs, the EU has been vocal about being ready to hit back against “unjustified tariffs.” On Monday, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said the bloc is ready “to protect its businesses, workers and consumers.”
“We can’t rely on the US anymore — it’s a new reality. So we have to be tough hitting back, that’s the only medicine,” one EU diplomat said.
Šefčovič visited Washington last month in an attempt to initiate a dialogue on averting a trade war, only to conclude that the Trump administration was not interested. “In the end, one hand cannot clap,” he said on Monday.
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, is keeping a low profile. “We’re not going to have a kneejerk reaction,” said an official from the Department for Business and Trade, pointing out that No. 10 is emphasizing the UK will “continue to take a cool-headed approach” to tariffs and to Trump’s antagonistic trade policy.
A bigger hit
EU diplomats, along with the steel industry representative, had expected the EU’s response package to pack more of a wallop than the suspended tariffs dating back to 2018.
That’s because the Trump administration — based on his executive orders from mid-February — has changed its tariff practices substantially. Most importantly, aluminum will rise to 25% from 10% the last time.
The EU will also no longer enjoy the quotas extended under the former administration of President Joe Biden, which allowed it to export tariff-free to the US. Meanwhile, Trump is adding products made mostly with steel — such as bolts and radiators — to the list of goods subject to tariffs.