March 23, 2025
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the U.S.'s increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%.
The world’s biggest trading bloc was expecting the U.S. tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense transatlantic relations. Only last month, Washington warned Europe that it would have to take care of its own security in the future.
The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth some $28 billion, and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances, and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter, and jeans will also be hit, as they were during President Donald Trump's first term.
The EU duties aim for pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. EU officials have made clear that the tariffs — taxes on imports — are aimed at products made in Republican-held states, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska and wood products from Alabama and Georgia.
Spirits producers, who before tariffs were first introduced in 2018 enjoyed zero tariff trading in both the US and Europe, have in essence become collateral damage in the dispute over steel and aluminum. The EU move “is deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild US spirits exports in EU countries,” said Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that the bloc “will always remain open to negotiation.”
“As the U.S. are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” she said. The commission manages trade and commercial conflicts on behalf of the 27 member EU countries.
The EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports, according to the European steel association Eurofer. The U.S. is the second biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16% of the total EU steel exports.
The EU estimates that the annual trade volume between both sides stands at about $1.5 trillion, representing some 30% of global trade. While the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, it says that is partly offset by the U.S. surplus in the trade of services.
Britain, which isn’t part of the EU, meanwhile said it won’t impose retaliatory measures of its own on the U.S. British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Wednesday he would “continue to engage closely and productively with the U.S. to press the case for U.K. business interests.”
He did not rule out future tariffs on U.S. imports, saying, “We will keep all options on the table and won’t hesitate to respond in the national interest.”
