EU presents new list of retaliatory tariffs after Trump's letter

Following US President Donald Trump's new tariff announcements, the EU is preparing additional retaliatory tariffs on 72 billion euros worth of imports from the US. This was announced by the relevant EU Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, after a meeting of trade ministers in Brussels.

The preparations for the countermeasures involve a list of industrial and agricultural products from the US that would be affected by new EU tariffs should European efforts for an amicable agreement fail. The list has been slightly adjusted after a public consultation. It originally included imports from the US into the EU worth as much as 95 billion euros.

Sefcovic did not initially say which products had been removed from the list. It also included symbolically relevant products such as US aircraft, cars and bourbon whiskey.

Trump letter brings “completely different dynamic”

Sefcovic had previously expressed disappointment about Trump's announcement to impose new import tariffs of 30 percent on imports from the EU from August 1. “We have been negotiating a basic agreement for weeks, and I think we were almost there,” he said. Trump's announcement now brings “a completely different dynamic”.

At the same time, Sefcovic warned that the implementation of Trump's plans would have drastic consequences for transatlantic trade. “Let's be honest: A 30 percent tariff would amount to a de facto trade ban,” he said. If tariffs of 30 percent or more were to come into effect, considerable negative impacts on both sides of the Atlantic could be expected.

Negotiations until the end of the month

The EU trade commissioner stressed that he would therefore continue the dialogue with the US in order to reach a negotiated solution by August 1. This is the date on which Trump announced the entry into force of a 30 percent tariff on imports from the EU.

Should there be no agreement, the EU intends to react with decisive countermeasures. Retaliatory tariffs have already been decided in the event that the US does not lift the new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports introduced months ago.

According to earlier EU statements, these affect US exports worth a total of 21 billion euros and could be added to the tariffs on exports worth 72 billion euros.

In addition, the EU Commission recently also prepared restrictions on certain EU exports of steel scrap and chemical products to the US worth 4.4 billion euros.

Looming trade war

Regarding further negotiations, Sefcovic said that despite Trump's letter, he had the feeling that his US counterparts were also prepared for further negotiations. He was 100 percent convinced that a negotiated solution was much better than the tensions that could arise in the event of further escalation after August 1. Sefcovic said: “This will not end well otherwise.”

The highly export-oriented German economy is considered particularly vulnerable in a trade war. According to an analysis by the Bundesbank, almost one in four jobs in Germany depends on exports, which already shrank in 2024 and are now under additional pressure due to the tariff dispute with the US.

There were no public statements from the German government at the trade ministers' meeting on Monday. The responsible economics minister, Katherina Reiche (CDU), was represented by state secretary Thomas Steffen.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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