EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič presented EU trade ministers gathered in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting on Monday a list of €72 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.
“We must be prepared for all outcomes, including if necessary, well-considered proportionate measures to restore balance in our transatlantic relationship,” Šefčovič said, adding: “Today the Commission is sharing with the member states the proposal for the second list of goods, accounting of some €72 billion worth of US Imports. They will now have a chance to discuss it.”
The list proposed by the Commission, which has been reduced from €72 billion to €95 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.
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.
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.
“We were very very close to an agreement in principle,” Danish foreign affairs minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen regretted.
The US currently imposes 50% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all EU imports.
According to an EU diplomat, EU retaliation could also include export controls on aluminium scrap, which the US needs.
But while the EU is flexing its muscles, it continues to prioritise negotiation.
“We remain convinced that our transatlantic relationship deserves a negotiated solution, one that leads to renewed stability and cooperation,” Maroš Šefčovič said before announcing he had a call planned with his US counterparts on Monday late afternoon.
On 13 July, the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a delay in the implementation of an initial retaliatory measure targeting €21 billion worth of American products, which had been suspended until 15 July.
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.
Anti-coercion instrument
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.
“Let’s be realistic we will all have different interpretations,” 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 hit by the US.
France continues to advocate a hard line toward the US, eager to put all the tools at the EU’s disposal on the table, including the use of the anti-coercion instrument — the “nuclear option” of EU trade defence, adopted in 2023.
“This 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,” French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on arrival at the Council, adding: “Europe is a power when it knows how to demonstrate its ability to respond.”
“The US has escalation dominance,” a second EU diplomat told Euronews.
On Sunday Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen ruled out use of the anti-coercion instrument for the time being.
“The anti-coercion is created for extraordinary situations,” she said, adding: “We are not there yet.”
The tool would allow the EU to withdraw licences and intellectual property rights from foreign companies including US tech giants.
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