Commercial dispute with Trump
EU announces retaliation for new US tariffs
Updated on 12.03.2025 – 9:01 a.m.Reading time: 4 min.
A major trade conflict between the United States and the European Union is making ahead. Consumers probably have to pay for this.
The EU has announced a decisive response to the US tariffs that came into force this Wednesday on steel and aluminum imports.
Commercial dispute with Trump: EU announces reaction to new US tariffs for steel and aluminum
As the responsible European Commission announced in the morning, EU extracölle should be due again in a first step from April on the import of American products such as bourbon whiskey, jeans, motorcycles, boats and peanut butter. Further countermeasures on the US tariffs would then follow after coordination with the EU member states in mid-April.
US President Donald Trump has introduced the US tariffs to all steel and aluminum imports of 25 percent. According to an arrangement of the Republican of February, which now applies, the exceptions from countries from the European Union and other countries are also exposed. Trump argues that excessive steel and aluminum imports threatened the national security of the United States. He also accuses China of flooding the global market with cheap metal.
Commercial dispute with Trump: Canada as the main source of steel and aluminum
According to the latest data, around a quarter of the steel used by industry in the USA is imported. With aluminum, the value is more than 40 percent. With secondary aluminum, which comes from recycled material, the value is again significantly higher.
According to the American Iron and Steel Institute for 2024, the United States relates its steel, especially from Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Germany and China also rank in the top ten of the countries of origin of steel imports. In addition, most of the aluminum that is imported into the USA comes from Canada.
The EU will feel the effects of the new tariffs. According to the latest data, around ten percent of all steel and 15 percent of all aluminum imports in the United States come from the EU. At the Stahl industry association, it was said that the United States was the most important sales market for the European steel industry.
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According to the EU Commission, the new US tariffs of 25 percent exports from the EU with a total value of EUR 26 billion meet, which corresponds to around five percent of the EU’s total goods. “Based on the current import flows, this will result in US importers have to pay up to six billion euros in additional import duties,” it said.
The EU counter-measures should now compensate for this. According to commission information, US goods exports worth 26 billion euros would be affected by the planned EU reactions. In the first step, goods worth around 8 billion euros are said to go, in the second by goods worth around 18 billion euros.
“The European Union must act to protect consumers and companies,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in connection with the new US tariffs of the Trump government. The countermeasures that are taken are strong, but proportionate.
The top German politician sharply criticized US President Donald Trump. “These tariffs disturb the supply chains. They create uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. The prices will increase – in Europe and in the United States,” she said.
New US tariffs: EU sees scope for negotiations
At the same time, von der Leyen emphasized that she was still ready to work on a negotiation solution with the US government. “We are firmly convinced that in a world full of geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs,” she said. She commissioned trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to resume his talks with the United States in order to develop better solutions.
