The EU is preparing for swift countermeasures in the absence of an agreement with the US

The EU plans to quickly impose 30% tariffs on US goods worth around €100 billion in the absence of an agreement with the US and to apply this rate to most of the bloc’s exports after August 1, Bloomberg reports.

On July 23, a spokesperson for the European Commission said that as part of the first wave of countermeasures, the EU will combine the already approved list of tariffs on US goods worth €21 billion and the previously proposed list of additional items worth €72 billion into a single package.

The possible European response will affect about a third of US exports to the EU – last year, goods worth €335 billion were delivered to the bloc from the US.

The tariffs will be ready to take effect next month, but only if there is no agreement with the US and US tariffs are introduced after August 1, the agency’s sources said.

The EU’s most powerful trade tool is the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI). It allows the bloc to impose a wide range of retaliatory measures, including new taxes on US tech giants, targeted restrictions on US investments, and restrictions on access to the EU market. A number of member states insist on its use if no agreement is reached.

According to diplomats familiar with the negotiations, the EU and the US are moving towards an agreement that will set a 15% tariff on most imported goods, the agency reports. One of them added that imports of steel and aluminum above a certain quota will face a higher tariff of 50%.

Sources note that although EU negotiators are optimistic about the agreement, there is an understanding that it will require Trump’s approval, and his final decision is difficult to predict.

In early July, the US president released a letter to the EU warning of a 30% tariff on most European goods from the beginning of August.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Trump announced a large-scale tariff agreement with Japan, one of the country’s largest trading partners. Under the agreement, Japan will invest $550 billion in the United States and pay a reciprocal tariff of 15%.