'There would be two responses': EU plans countermeasures to Trump’s tariffs

The European Commission has said that it will deliver a unified response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of auto and reciprocal tariffs later on Wednesday.

“There would be two [responses]. There will be the first response to the steel and aluminum tariffs from the US. And there will be a second response that clusters together everything else,” Politico quoted Olof Gill, the Commission’s spokesperson for trade, as saying

“The first is going through the internal process … And the second, as I mentioned, will be issued after the expected announcements from Washington later today,” Gill added.

According to a Politico report, while specifics are still unclear, Brussels expects that Trump will announce tariffs as high as 20-25% on all EU exports to the US. This level of protectionism has not been seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s and poses a risk of disrupting global trade, impacting economic output in America’s trading partners, and i ncreasing costs for US consumers , added the report.

The Commission is in the process of finalising two lists of countermeasures, totaling €26 billion ($28 billion), to respond to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, in collaboration with EU member countries and businesses.

On Friday, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is scheduled to meet with EU ambassadors for lunch to discuss the next steps ahead of a meeting of the bloc’s trade ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, according to the report, citing two EU diplomats,

Last week, Trump announced a 25% tariff on foreign-made cars, which will take effect on Wednesday.

Gill did not provide further details on the timing of the EU’s response, emphasising that it would be issued at an “appropriate time.”

He also noted that there are currently no plans for Šefčovič to visit Washington to negotiate with the Trump administration, following an unproductive six-hour meeting with US trade officials last week.

With inputs from agencies