Today the EU countries want to vote on how to react to the US tariffs. Countermeasures are apparently intended to be used to provide agricultural products such as corn. Whiskey is probably spared. China is also confronted with Trump.
According to several media reports, the EU Commission presented a list of other US goods in the trade dispute with the USA, which is to be proven with import duties of up to 25 percent. Today the member states want to vote on it.
The list includes agricultural products such as corn, soybeans and poultry, textiles and steel products as well as make-up.
American bourbon whiskey, on the other hand, should no longer be documented as planned. The main reason is the lobbying of countries such as France and Italy.
After the EU plans became known, US President Donald Trump had threatened with counter-tariffs from 200 percent on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from EU countries if the EU should implement the project.
Lower extent than US tariffs
The countermeasures are expected to have a slightly lower extent than the US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The background to this is that the EU fears damage to its own companies. Representatives in Brussels emphasize that the conference is still willing to find a solution at the negotiating table.
The list is the second part of the European answer to the tariffs imposed by Trump last month on steel and aluminum products. If the list of member countries is accepted, most tariffs could be due in mid -May.
Others, for example on almonds, would only apply in December. In a first step, EU tariffs from Trump’s first term in the first term are to be reintroduced in April. This affects US products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and jeans.
More energy from the USA? Skepticism in Brussels
The European Union could possibly get a relief for the US tariffs if it decreases American energy in return. “We have a trade deficit with the European Union of $ 350 billion – and that will quickly disappear,” said the US president on the sidelines of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “You have to buy our energy – because you need you.”
This step alone could compensate for the 350 billion “within a week”. “You have to buy a comparable amount of energy – and commit yourself bindingly,” said Trump. What Trump referred to the EU with the EU when it came to information on the trade deficit remained unclear. According to the EU, there was a trade surplus of 157 billion euros in 2023 (around $ 172 billion).
A spokeswoman for the EU Commission said half of the LNG LNG liquid gas dating already came from the United States. Excessive dependence on a single supplier should be avoided.
When asked by a journalist to Trump, whether the EU’s offer, to lift all mutual tariffs to cars and industrial goods, was not enough, he replied: “No, that’s not.” Before that, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said that the EU had offered the United States an agreement to mutual cancellation of all tariffs on industrial goods.
“He needs the income,” Ulrich Ueckerseifer, ARD Washington, with an update to the customs conflict
Tensions between Beijing and Washington
There is also no relaxation in the conflict between Trump’s government and Beijing. The US President threatened with other special tariffs for China of 50 percent if the country does not take back its announced counter tariffs of 34 percent.
But China has also announced a tough attitude. If the United States continues to escalate its customs measures, China will take countermeasures to protect its own rights and interests, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said. In addition, it spoke of blackmail from Washington and an error that followed an error.
