After a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council to discuss the tariffs, their effects on the EU economy and the EU’s response, the EU Commission said it was ready to negotiate with the US on tariffs, but it was also ready to move forward with counter tariffs of its own.
“The current trade situation with the United States, our most significant partner, is in a tough spot,” European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a press briefing after the meeting. “A range of tariffs is hitting significant portion of EU exports. In fact, €380 billion ($415 billion) worth of EU exports to the US, 70% of our total exports, are facing tariffs of 20% or 25%, or even higher when combined with existing most-favored-nation tariffs like 27.5% duty on passenger cars altogether.”
“While the EU remains open to and strongly prefers negotiations, we will not wait endlessly,” Sefcovic continued. “Until we see tangible progress, we will be working along three tracks: defend our interests through countermeasures, diversify our trade through new agreements and deter harmful trade diversions.”
President Donald Trump later said the US was not interested in negotiating with the EU “unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis.”
Widespread measures considered
The Commission on Monday sent a list of goods and proposed tariffs to member states in response to US tariffs on aluminium and steel. The member states are expected to vote on the measures on Wednesday April 9. The final list will be adopted on April 15. The first set of measures would come into effect that day and a second set would kick in on May 15, Sefcovic said.
According to reports, the list is wide-ranging and includes diamonds, eggs, dental floss, sausages and poultry. They indicate the EU is also considering tariffs on soybeans from December 1. Sources close to the matter said they believed most pulp and paper products have now been removed from the list.
The EU imports around 900,000 tonnes per year of pulp from the US, mostly fluff pulp, and close to 600,000 tpy of paper and board. On the other hand, the EU exports a lot of paper and board to the US, about 1,600,000 tpy, and a lesser amount of pulp, around 350,000 tpy.
The EU is reportedly also considering quotas and/or tariffs on some metals. The European Commission declined to comment officially on the proposed countermeasures when contacted by Fastmarkets.
Soybeans added to the list
In terms of additional countermeasures for agriculture products, it seems only soybeans are mentioned, as US corn is already expected to be subject to a potential 25% tariff starting from mid-April, when a previously suspended tariff is reintroduced.
In 2024, the US was the second-biggest supplier of soybeans into the EU with 6.01 million tonnes imported or 33.6% of the total. If the talk of a 25% tariff on US soybeans from December is confirmed, it means that the EU has to find an alternative source, and most probably will switch even more toward Brazil, which is already the main supplier with a 41% market share.
At the same time, the timing of potential implementation means that the EU could still try to import the needed amount of US beans before that. The US soybean export season usually starts in September/October.
No clarity on metal
There has been no clarity on possible exemptions for metals so far, according to Fastmarkets’ sources.
“In response to US outrageous tariffs on steel and aluminium, the EU will implement countermeasures in mid-April; as of today [April 8] it’s still not clear if some specific metals could be exempt from these countermeasures,” a source familiar with the matter said.
The so-called “liberation” tariffs, announced by the US administration on 2 April, affect all US trade partners, including the EU. All EU-origin imports to the US are now faced with 20% blanket tariffs from April 9, affecting an already-struggling European manufacturing sector.
The “liberation” tariffs will not target steel and aluminium, which are already subject to 25% tariffs in the US as of March 12.
Some sources suggested that Europe’s rebalancing countermeasures would include a mirror 25% tariff on steel and aluminium imports from the US, as was suggested in March.
But sources suggested that the EU might “spare” some metals from tariffs, like the US did.
Notably, the US has granted exemption from “liberation” tariffs for some products, including coal and a wide number of non-ferrous metals. The full list of all exempted products can be found here.
Several sources also suggested that for some critical products the EU might set alternative agreements – setting tariff-rate quotas, as it was done for example in 2021-2022 respectively.
