EU seeks unity in first strike back at Trump tariffs [View all]
Source: NBC News/Reuters
April 6, 2025, 6:40 AM EDT / Source: Reuters
BRUSSELS European Union countries will seek to present a united front in the coming days against U.S. President Donald Trumps tariffs, likely approving a first set of targeted countermeasures on up to $28 billion of U.S. imports from dental floss to diamonds.
Such a move would mean the EU joining China and Canada in imposing retaliatory tariffs on the United States in an early escalation of what some fear will become a global trade war, making goods more expensive for billions of consumers and pushing economies around the world into recession.
The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminum and cars and reciprocal tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for almost all other goods. Trumps tariffs cover some 70% of the EUs exports to the United States worth a total of $585 billion last year with likely duties on copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and timber still to come.
The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, will propose to members late on Monday a list of U.S. products to hit with extra duties in response to Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs rather than the broader reciprocal levies.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/eu-seeks-unity-first-strike-back-trump-tariffs-rcna199887