U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he will impose a 30 percent tariff on all EU imports into the United States.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on July 13 that the European Union will extend a suspension on its countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until next month while trade negotiations continue with the Trump administration.
On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he will impose a 30 percent tariff on all imports from the EU absent a trade deal with his administration.
The tariffs would be separate from any sector-specific levies. He accused the EU of imposing various tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers on the United States and said he would increase the tariff level if Europe retaliates.
Trump had initially given U.S. trading partners until July 9 to negotiate trade deals with his administration or face the tariffs he announced in early April. Last week, Trump said he would begin sending letters to countries informing them of their tariff levels if they did not negotiate deals with his team.
He has sent letters to more than 20 U.S. trading partners including Mexico, which received a letter on Saturday informing the nation that it would also have 30 percent tariffs imposed on its imports into the United States.
After Trump announced the EU’s new tariff level, von der Leyen said on Saturday that the EU, America’s largest trading partner, would take all necessary steps to safeguard its interests, including “the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche called for a “pragmatic outcome to the negotiations” between the EU and the United States.
EU ambassadors met on Sunday, one day ahead of the trade ministers’ meeting in Brussels, to decide whether to retaliate against Trump’s new tariffs or extend a suspension on countermeasures that was set to expire on Monday.
The EU opted to take the second route.
While speaking with reporters, von der Leyen said the suspension would extend until early August while the EU continues to “prepare further countermeasures so we are fully prepared.”
By Jacob Burg
