Europe seems ready to impose counter duties on imports from the United States after the final round of negotiations on Monday, April 7.
After a meeting of the Council on Foreign Affairs, which discussed tariffs, their impact on the EU economy and the EU's response, the European Commission said it was ready to negotiate tariffs with the United States, but was also ready to move forward with its own counter tariffs.
"The current trade situation with the United States, our most important partner, is in a difficult position," European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said at a press briefing after the meeting. "A number of tariffs affect a significant part of EU exports. In fact, exports from the EU to the United States worth 380 billion euros ($415 billion), accounting for 70% of our total exports, are subject to duties of 20% or 25%, or even higher, combined with existing most-favored-nation tariffs, such as a duty of 25% on passenger cars. cars in general".
"Although the EU remains open to negotiations and strongly prefers them, we will not wait indefinitely," Sefcovic continued. "Until we see tangible progress, we will work on three fronts: protecting our interests through countermeasures, diversifying our trade through new agreements, and preventing harmful trade sabotage."President Donald Trump later said that the United States was not interested in negotiating with the EU "unless they pay us a lot of money annually."
Widespread measures includeOn Monday, the European Commission sent member states a list of goods and proposed tariffs in response to the U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel. Member States are expected to vote on these measures on Wednesday, April 9th. The final list will be approved on April 15. According to Sefcovic, the first package of measures will enter into force on the same day, and the second on May 15.
According to reports, the list is wide and includes diamonds, eggs, dental floss, sausages and poultry meat. They indicate that the EU is also considering the introduction of duties on soybeans from December 1. Sources close to the matter said that, in their opinion, most pulp and paper products have now been removed from the list.
The EU imports about tons of pulp per year from the United States, mostly fluffed pulp, and about tons of paper and cardboard per year. On the other hand, the EU exports to the USA a large amount of paper and cardboard, about tons per year, and a smaller amount of pulp, about tons per year.
It is reported that the EU is also considering the introduction of quotas and/or tariffs on certain metals. The European Commission declined to officially comment on the proposed countermeasures when
