The EU has announced retaliatory “countermeasures” on €26bn worth of US goods, as the global trade war sparked by Trump’s package of tariffs continues to rage.
Early on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that there will be a two-stage process to implement the tariffs, first allowing current measures to lapse before putting forward an aggressive new package.
The new measures alone will hit €18bn worth of goods, including steel, aluminium, textiles and plastics.
Agricultural products could also be affected, from poultry to beef and eggs – if approved by EU member states.
Ursula von der Leyen said: “We deeply regret this measure. 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”.
In February, Trump imposed a 25 per cent levy on EU goods, including aluminium and steel.
The US president claimed at the time that the EU was set up to “screw” America, adding that the trading bloc had “done a good job of it but now I am President”.
“The EU is a different kind of case than Canada, they’ve really taken advantage of us in a different way.”
This is not the first time that Trump has clashed with the EU over trade. In his first term, the US President slapped €2.8bn of tariffs on US goods, with reciprocal measures from the EU.
In an interview with Times Radio this morning, exchequer secretary James Murray said that the fresh tariffs are “disappointing”.
The Treasury minister added: “We want to take a pragmatic approach, and we’re already negotiating rapidly toward an economic agreement with the US, with the potential to eliminate additional tariffs”.
These EU measures are set to take effect on 1 April, with further reciprocal tariffs from the US coming just a day later.