The EU is finalizing a list of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, set to begin implementation next week amid ongoing trade tensions.
EU Set to Vote on Retaliatory Tariffs Against U.S. Imports
EU Set to Vote on Retaliatory Tariffs Against U.S. Imports
The European Union prepares to respond to U.S. tariffs with its own measures in an escalating trade dispute.
April 9, 2025, 5:10 a.m. ET – In a significant escalation of trade tensions, the European Union (EU) is poised to vote today on its first retaliatory measures in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by President Trump. This proposed plan includes imposing new duties on various manufactured goods and agricultural products, with initial impacts commencing next week.
The proposed tariff list has been slightly adjusted from an earlier version unveiled in mid-March, following ongoing discussions among EU policymakers and industries across the 27-nation bloc. Notably, the final list of items set for duty will exclude bourbon after the U.S. president threatened an exorbitant 200 percent tariff on European alcoholic beverages. Such a move would have severely impacted producers from wine-rich nations like France, Italy, and Spain.
Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s trade commissioner, emphasized that the union would not engage in a straightforward tit-for-tat approach, stating, "We are not in a business of going, let’s say, cent for cent, or tit for tat." The uncertainty surrounding negotiations with the U.S. has left the EU no choice but to take these planned retaliatory steps.
The U.S. has recently instituted a 25 percent tariff on steel, aluminum, and automotive imports, accompanied by a broad 20 percent tariff affecting all other European imports — effective immediately. EU officials have expressed a strong preference for negotiation to eliminate these elevated tariffs and have even suggested a trade-off involving zero tariffs on vehicles and industrial products, contingent upon similar concessions from the U.S.
With comprehensive negotiations appearing to stall, the EU aims to retaliate steadily, initiating these tariffs in response merely to the steel and aluminum levies.
The proposed tariff list has been slightly adjusted from an earlier version unveiled in mid-March, following ongoing discussions among EU policymakers and industries across the 27-nation bloc. Notably, the final list of items set for duty will exclude bourbon after the U.S. president threatened an exorbitant 200 percent tariff on European alcoholic beverages. Such a move would have severely impacted producers from wine-rich nations like France, Italy, and Spain.
Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s trade commissioner, emphasized that the union would not engage in a straightforward tit-for-tat approach, stating, "We are not in a business of going, let’s say, cent for cent, or tit for tat." The uncertainty surrounding negotiations with the U.S. has left the EU no choice but to take these planned retaliatory steps.
The U.S. has recently instituted a 25 percent tariff on steel, aluminum, and automotive imports, accompanied by a broad 20 percent tariff affecting all other European imports — effective immediately. EU officials have expressed a strong preference for negotiation to eliminate these elevated tariffs and have even suggested a trade-off involving zero tariffs on vehicles and industrial products, contingent upon similar concessions from the U.S.
With comprehensive negotiations appearing to stall, the EU aims to retaliate steadily, initiating these tariffs in response merely to the steel and aluminum levies.
