Europe will respond to U.S. tariffs

The European Union (EU) argued today that it will give separate responses to the new tariffs proposed by US President Donald Trump.
 
Its spokesmen indicated Wednesday that it foresees two separate responses to the tariffs already imposed or to be imposed by Washington on the import of EU products.

The European Commission’s trade spokesman, Olof Gill, added that they will give different answers to each tariff announced by the Trump administration, according to his words at the European Commission’s daily press conference.

A first response to the tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum, and a second will be to group everything else, he said. Gill responded this way when asked about separate reactions to the steel and aluminum tariffs (already announced) and on vehicles (of 25 percent, to take effect on April 3), as well as to the new global tariffs expected to be announced this Wednesday by the U.S. president.

He made clear that the European Commission made calculations on the potential impact on the European economy of such measures, but declined to give details of those analyses for the time being.

The European Commission postponed until mid-April the implementation of the first countermeasures in response to U.S. tariffs on European aluminum and steel imports, in order to give more room for negotiation with Washington to reach a solution.