EU has ‘strong plan’ to tackle Trump tariffs, von der Leyen says

The European Commission president said the bloc is waiting for announcements Wednesday on US tariffs.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting in March. Picture: AFP

The European Union has a plan to counteract the swath of tariffs US President Trump is planning to impose on foreign goods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

“Europe has not started this confrontation,” she said Tuesday in Strasbourg, France. “We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but we have a strong plan to retaliate if necessary.”

Von der Leyen said the bloc is waiting for announcements Wednesday on US tariffs, adding that policymakers will assess them carefully to calibrate a response.

She said more tariffs would only fuel inflation, which is “exactly the opposite of what we want to achieve.”

Her remarks come as Trump seeks to forge ahead with additional tariffs on top of those that have already rattled global markets in recent weeks. Tariffs on steel and aluminium went into effect last month, straining the EU’s industrial sector. Last week, Trump said the US would impose 25 per cent tariffs on global automotive imports into the country. Those tariffs will go into effect on April 2 and start being collected as of April 3.

Now, Trump has set a Wednesday deadline to announce further tariffs in what he said would be ‘Liberation Day.’

The president also threatened to slap a 200 per cent levy on wines and spirits from the EU after the bloc said it could add tariffs to a broad range of U.S. products – from poultry to American whiskey – in response to the US.

Trump has been turning to tariffs to address what he sees as unfair trade imbalances between the US and other economies. He ordered federal agencies to explore how to adjust US tariffs, underscoring his willingness to make good on pledges to help restore domestic manufacturing and create American jobs.

Trump has rocked diplomatic relations with the EU since taking office with tariff threats, harsh criticism of its antitrust enforcement against U.S. tech giants and even a bid to annex Greenland.

EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic travelled to Washington DC last week for talks with his US counterparts in an attempt to diffuse the escalating trade war between the two parties.

“I hear Americans, when they say some others have taken advantage of the rules,” European Commission President von der Leyen said. “I agree. We also suffer from it. So let us work on it. But tariffs across the board make things worse, not better,” she said.