EU response to Trump’s tariffs could come as early as next week

The new plan comes as EU member states prepare to vote on a first round of levies meant to counter 25pc tariffs on steel and aluminium exports to the US.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen looks on during a press conference with Norway's Prime Minister at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels on Monday. Picture: AFP

The European Commission is working on a plan that could be ready as early as next week to counter President Trump’s auto export levies and a 20 per cent tariff on goods from the bloc, a spokesperson said.

The new plan comes as EU member states prepare to vote on a first round of levies meant to counter 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium exports to the US.

“I expect that will happen early next week. Also early next week is the second phase of our response to US tariffs, this time on cars and reciprocal tariffs,” European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said in a press conference Tuesday.

US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports went into effect last month, while additional 25 per cent tariffs on global automotive imports went into effect last week.

US President Trump has also issued a 20 per cent levy on all goods exported from the EU.

“We will basically be presenting our plan in the same way as we did with steel and aluminium,” Gill added.

Trump is using tariffs to address what he sees as imbalances between the US and rival countries on trade.

He also ordered federal agencies to look into a broad range of corporate regulations in non-US countries out of suspicion they unfairly target American companies, with a view to factoring them into trade policy.

A recent US trade report dedicated several pages to EU laws such as the Digital Markets Act, saying they are discriminatory.

The commission spokesperson pushed back on concerns that the EU might be pressured into considering other types of regulation – such as competition and digital enforcement – in its trade talks with the US.

The EU has a clear framework of what does and does not count as a non-tariff barrier to trade and disagrees with the US view, he said.

“We’re talking about separate things here, and we will not be conflating the two in our negotiations with the US,” he said.

Wall Street Journal