European products will be targeted by a 20% US customs duty starting 9 April, US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday 2 April. According to figures released by the White House, this is a reciprocal tariff for all of what it considers to be the taxes that the European Union applies to imports at a rate of 39%. This 39% includes tariffs as well as VAT and non-monetary barriers.
“You know, you think of the European Union, very friendly. They [the Europeans, Editor’s note] rip us off, it’s so sad to see. It’s so pathetic”, Donald Trump repeated.
The decree signed on Wednesday 2 April imposes a tariff on a whole list of countries, up to 50% for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. States that are not subject to a reciprocal tariff, such as the United Kingdom, are subject to a basic customs duty of 10%.
Donald Trump has reiterated that vehicle imports from around the world will be taxed at 25% as of 3 April (see EUROPE 13609/12). He did not specify whether this specific tariff, like that on steel and aluminium (15%), was in addition to the individual country tariff, or whether it replaced it.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, did not react immediately to Donald Trump’s announcements and planned to issue a statement in the early hours of 3 April from Samarkand, where she is attending the EU/Central Asia summit.
See reciprocal tariff rates: https://aeur.eu/f/g8j (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)