The EU is preparing a phased response to US duties

The European Union is preparing to introduce measures in response to the new US tariffs on April 15 and May 15. This was stated by EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, according to the European Commission.

According to him, the bloc will vote on a plan of countermeasures to Trump’s tariffs on April 9.

The European Commissioner described the current trade situation with the United States. According to him, a number of duties affect a significant portion of EU exports.

“In fact, €380 billion worth of EU exports to the US – roughly 70% of our total exports – face duties of 20% or 25% or even higher, combined with existing most-favored-nation tariffs, such as the 27.5% duty on passenger cars in general,” he explained.

In the long run, the duties will amount to more than €80 billion, an 11-fold jump from the €7 billion currently collected in the US.

Šefčovič noted that the EU remains open to negotiations with the United States. In particular, the bloc offered the US zero duties on cars and industrial goods.

“We are now at the early stages of discussions because the US sees duties not as a tactical step but as a corrective measure. We are fully prepared to sit down at the negotiating table when our American partners are ready,” he said.

However, Šefčović emphasized that the EU will not wait indefinitely.

“Until we see tangible progress, we will work in three areas: protecting our interests through countermeasures, diversifying our trade through new agreements, and curbing harmful trade deviations,” the European Commissioner explained.

Šefčovič said that the EC had received valuable feedback from Member States and 660 stakeholders on the steel and aluminum tariffs. It is noted that after a thorough review, the EC worked to create a robust list of countermeasures, while balancing the burden between the bloc countries. The final list and tariff rates were to be sent to member states on April 7.

At the same time, Politico reports, citing an internal EC document, the Commission is considering imposing duties of up to 25% on a wide range of US exports in response to the duties imposed on steel and aluminum, including steel products.

As GMK Center reported earlier, on April 2, US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of large-scale tariffs against trading partners. Thus, the minimum basic tariff on imports from all countries will be 10%, which will come into effect on April 5 this year. In addition, starting April 9, individual reciprocal higher duties will be introduced for the countries with which the United States has the largest trade deficit.