Trump tariffs: EU ministers to fulfill as international markets tumble
Trump said he would slap 20% tariffs on European Union goods, to which the bloc has promised countermeasures if negotiations with Washington fail.
The United States and the EU have the world’s largest commercial relationship, trading some €1.6 trillion ($1.7 trillion) in goods and services in 2023.
Trump frequently hits out at the EU over the balance, given the higher volume of European goods sold in the US compared to vice versa.
US goods imports into the EU totaled €334 billion in 2024, against €532 billion of EU exports to the US, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.
However, the overall balance of trade is roughly even.
While Europe exports more goods to the US than it imports in the opposite direction, that situation is reversed when looking at services.
That means the service sector, particularly tech, could be the main avenue through which Brussels could hit back.
Economists say that Europe could widen the trade war, in particular by targeting Big Tech — a category more vulnerable to retaliation because of the US surplus.
Brussels could hit back with a tax targeting US tech titans like Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft — a move French EU-US trade balance 2014–202 officials have pushed for.
At the same time, the EU’s powerful new Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), in force since late 2023, gives the bloc sweeping authority to strike back at foreign countries trying to strong-arm its members into policy changes.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says Europe should be prepared to use the new instrument, described as a trade “bazooka,” in any transatlantic trade war.
The EU can also limit access to public procurement tenders for companies from a third country or take action when it comes to the services trade or investment.
Europe’s strategy on goods so far has been to limit retaliation to early tariff rounds to just a few politically sensitive goods, rather than escalate an all-out trade war.
When Trump hit steel and aluminum imports with a 25% tariff in March, Brussels opted for “an eye for an eye” approach.
With Trump’s extra levies, Brussels opted to target US goods from mid-April, including Harley Davidson motorbikes and agricultural products.
Officials have previously said the EU will target goods from politically important US states, including soybeans produced in Louisiana.
