EU retaliates as Trump steps up trade war with steel tariffs – by Tom Saunders for the Times – 13.03.25
- Michael Julien
- Mar 13
- 5 min read
The EU has announced €26 billion in tariffs on US goods.
“The European Union must act to protect consumers and business,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission
President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminium brought immediate retaliation from countries affected, including Canada as well as the European Union, sparking fears of a trade war.
Canada said that in response, it would impose 25 per cent tariffs on more than $20 billion worth of US goods. The levies covered steel and aluminium, as well as other goods from the US, including computers, sports equipment and cast iron products.
The EU said it would reinstate a slate of measures that it had suspended since its first dispute over metal exports to the US in 2018 during Trump’s first term. These duties, which targeted a total of €8 billion of US exports, including boats, bourbon and motorbikes, will go back into effect on April 1.
It also announced a new package of additional measures, focusing on industrial and agricultural products ranging from leather goods to poultry, beef and vegetables, which it said it expected to impose by mid-April.
The second package would target €18 billion of US exports, bringing the total goods affected by tariffs to €26 billion.
The EU justified the additional countermeasures on the basis that Trump’s tariffs were significantly wider in scope than those instituted during his first term, when he imposed a 10 per cent levy on aluminium and a 25 per cent tariff on steel.
The new measures, which came into effect on Wednesday, raised the levy on aluminium to 25 per cent and were also extended to products only partly made of steel or aluminium.
“The European Union must act to protect consumers and business,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said. “The countermeasures we take today are strong but proportionate.”
The UK, however, has so far refrained from imposing any retaliatory tariffs of its own, though prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said that the government would keep “all options on the table”.
Sir Keir Starmer has so far refrained from imposing any retaliatory tariffs.
At the same time, the tariffs were met by concerns from those in the steel industry who called for action.
“The European Union has said it will take strong and proportionate action in response to the tariffs,” British Steel said in a post on LinkedIn.
“It is imperative the UK Government also takes swift and decisive action to protect its steelmakers from these tariffs and ensures robust trade measures are in place to help safeguard our future.”
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, warned that retaliatory action should only be seen as a last resort to avoid a wider dispute.
“Businesses will be looking to the UK government to continue dialogue with the US to resolve this situation and restore certainty for firms, which has been badly lacking over recent weeks,” he said.
“Against this background, a series of tit-for-tat tariffs could easily spiral into an all-out trade war and would do the UK little benefit.”
Two of America’s most prominent business bosses backed Trump’s tariffs policy. Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone and a long-time Trump donor, said the tariffs can boost manufacturing in the US.
“Given the size of the US, that tends to be a good thing for the world,” Schwarzman said.
David Solomon, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, said he understood what Trump is trying to do with tariffs but urged more regulatory clarity.
“There is potential, especially if we got more specific actions on the regulatory front, to unleash more animal spirits,” he said.
Breaking from his previous position, Trump has so far offered no carve-outs to the tariffs — as he did during his first term when Australia and Argentina were granted exemptions.
Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, called Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs “entirely unjustified . . . and against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship” but ruled out reciprocal tariffs.
“Tariffs and escalating trade tensions are a form of economic self-harm and a recipe for slower growth and higher inflation. They are paid by the consumers,” Albanese added.
Ursula von der Leyen: We’re ready to talk.
The European Union said it would impose two separate measures in response to President Trump’s tariffs on aluminium and steel, targeting a total of €26 billion in US exports.
Firstly, it said it would reinstate a number of measures that it had suspended since its first dispute over metal exports to the US in 2018 during Trump’s first term.
The duties, which target a range of goods including boats, bourbon and motorbikes, account for a total of €8 billion in US exports and will go back into effect on April 1.
However, it also announced a new range of additional measures, focusing on industrial and agricultural products ranging from leather goods to poultry, beef and vegetables, which it said it expected to impose by mid-April.
The EU justified the additional countermeasures on the basis that Trump’s tariffs were significantly wider in scope than those instituted during his first term.
“As of this morning, the United States is applying a 25 per cent tariff on imports of steel and aluminium. We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and worse for consumers,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said.
“They are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty to the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. Nobody needs that — on both sides, neither in the European Union nor in the United States.”
The second measure, which would target €18 billion of US exports, will not be imposed before a two-week consultation with stakeholders, the EU said.
Many of the initial items suggested in the second range of measures appear to target important exports from Republican strongholds. Beef and poultry products produced in the Republican states of Kansas and Nebraska are on the new list, as are wood products found in Alabama and Georgia.
Soybeans, which are grown in Louisiana, the home state of Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, are also being targeted by the EU.
While making clear that the European Union was prepared to protect consumers, Von der Leyen appealed for negotiations.
“We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geoeconomics and political uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with such tariffs. We are ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue,” Von der Leyen added.
Maros Sefcovic, the European Union’s trade commissioner, added that trade between the EU and the US is “well balanced and highly profitable to both sides”.
“On steel and aluminium particularly, we share some of the challenges — for instance, global overcapacities driven by non-market practices — and the European Union is part of the solution, not the problem,” Sefcovic added.
“The disruption caused by tariffs is avoidable if the US administration accepts our extended hand and works with us to strike a deal.”
For this article in pdf, please click here:
Ursula von der Leyen
Comentários