The European Union plans to quickly apply to the United States tariffs of 30% on goods worth about 100,000 million euros (US $ 117,000 million) In the event that there is no agreement and if the US president, Donald Trump, fulfills his threat of imposing that rate on most exports of the block after August 1.
As part of a first wave of countermeasures, the EU would combine an already approved list of tariffs over 21,000 million euros (US $ 24,626 million) of American products and a previously proposed list of 72,000 million euros (US $ 84,432 million) additional of American products in a single package, a spokesman for the European Commission said Wednesday.
American exports, which include industrial goods such as Boeing Co. aircraft, cars made in the United States And Bourbon whiskey, would face a Trump’s 30% threat equivalent, according to people familiar with the matter.
The tariffs would be ready to enter into force next month, but only if there is no agreement and the United States implements their taxes after the deadline of August, The people who talked about anonymity to discuss private deliberations said.
The plans arise at a time when the EU member states, including Germany, They have hardened their positions in response to the hardening of the United States negotiating position.
Berlin would even be willing to support the activation of the EU anticoration instrument, or ACI, if there is no agreementaccording to a government official on condition of anonymity. This tool would only take effect if an agreement is not materialized.
The ACI is the most powerful commercial tool and a growing number of Member States presses to be used if an agreement is not reached. This instrument is mainly designed as a deterrent and is currently not being considered, since its activation requires the support of a qualified majority of the Member States. The ACI would allow the EU to implement a wide range of retaliation measures, including new taxes on US technological giants, specific restrictions on US investments and the limitation of access to the EU market.
“We approach the decisive phase of the tariff dispute with the USA. We need a fair and reliable agreement with low tariffs,” The German Foreign Minister Friedrich Merz declared to the press in Berlin on Tuesday after meeting with his Czech counterpart, Petr Fiala. “Without this agreement, we risk an economic uncertainty at a time when, in reality, we need precisely the opposite.”
Even so, the overwhelming preference is to keep the negotiations with Washington in progress in an attempt to find an exit to the impasse before the deadline of next month.
