The European Union on Saturday warned it was ready to respond with countermeasures if the United States moved forward with a 30% tariff on European goods starting August 1.
The warning came after the White House surprised EU officials with its latest trade threat, despite ongoing negotiations aimed at easing tensions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU remained open to finding an agreement before the deadline but made clear the bloc would defend its interests. She said the EU would take all necessary steps, including imposing proportionate tariffs on U.S. imports, if needed.
EU ambassadors are scheduled to meet Sunday, ahead of a Monday meeting of trade ministers in Brussels, to decide on whether to activate tariffs on $21 billion worth of U.S. goods in response to earlier American duties on steel and aluminium.
While the EU has not yet responded to those duties, it has prepared two tariff packages that could target up to €93 billion of U.S. goods. Several European governments voiced support for von der Leyen’s stance.
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche called for a pragmatic outcome to the negotiations and warned of the impact on both sides of the Atlantic. French President Emmanuel Macron urged the European Commission to remain firm, and said the EU might use broader anti-coercion tools if the U.S. followed through with its tariff plan.
Spain’s Economy Ministry backed more talks but said it supported countermeasures if required. U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the EU over trade imbalances and has made tariff threats a central part of his trade policy. The U.S. trade deficit with the EU in 2024 was $235 billion, though the EU has pointed to a surplus in services on the U.S. side.
Both the EU and the U.S. are each other’s largest trading partners when combining goods, services, and investment. The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU has warned the dispute could affect $9.5 trillion in economic ties.
Bernd Lange, head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said the EU should start with the first stage of countermeasures on Monday and quickly follow with the second.
Trump has previously announced large tariffs and later suspended them, creating uncertainty about whether the latest threat will be implemented. EU officials, speaking privately, said they saw the new announcement as part of a negotiating tactic.
The European Central Bank has already included a 10% tariff on EU exports to the U.S. in its economic forecasts. It projects eurozone growth at 0.9% this year, rising slightly through 2027.
But if a 20% tariff were imposed, the ECB said growth would fall by one percentage point, and inflation would dip to 1.8% from 2.0% in its baseline. The bank did not estimate the effect of a 30% tariff.
