The EU’s trade ministers have been called to a meeting of the extraordinary Trade Council in Luxembourg, on Monday 7 April. The multiple announcements of US customs tariffs demand it. There are two subjects on the ministers’ agenda: relations with the United States and relations with China, but the first is expected to take precedence over the second.
The meeting will be an opportunity for the EU27 to give their assessment of the situation and their vision for the future. There is no question of getting into the details of European countermeasures, according to several EU diplomats, but several countries are nevertheless expected to address this burning issue. France, for example, insists on the need to attack US digital services, while other countries are calling for appeasement.
For the Polish Presidency of the EU Council, the aim of the meeting is to have a message of unity in support of the Commission’s work, rather than guidelines for the future. It is too early to have a detailed discussion on the response, insist two sources.
Moreover, the presence of the European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, will be extremely useful in providing an overview of the prospects for negotiations with Washington. On Friday 4 April, he had a telephone conversation with his US counterparts.
A united European front with variable firmness. For the time being, the European Commission enjoys almost unanimous support among the Member States in its approach to negotiations and the development of countermeasures. Opinions differ, however, on the degree of firmness in the European response.
Countries such as Belgium, Sweden, Germany and Italy are calling for negotiations first and foremost. “I fully support [Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s] objective of working towards a negotiated solution as quickly as possible. [...] Because Atlanticism is older and it is bigger than Trump and a solution rather conflict is in everyone’s interest”, stressed Belgian Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, on Thursday 3 April.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was of the same opinion: “My hope, and our goal, is that we will be able to contain the new US tariffs. We want to find our way back to a path of trade and cooperation with the United States”.
For these countries, which fear an escalation, it is a question of persevering in the effort to have the measures announced withdrawn, and even to secure the lowering of the rates of US tariff, which were in force until the beginning of 2025. Some still believe that an agreement is possible with the US President along these lines.
Indeed, according to estimates from the World Trade Organization (WTO), the measures adopted by Donald Trump since the start of the year could lead to a contraction of around 1% in the volume of the trade in goods this year, which represents a significant revision of previous forecasts. The Director-General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said she is very concerned about the situation. In a statement on 3 April, she called on WTO members to talk to each other and use the forum of the organisation to seek solutions.
On Monday 7 April, a number of Member States are nonetheless expected to question the Commission on future countermeasures and their scope. France, Spain and even Germany think it is time for the EU to flex its muscles. Retaliatory measures are not seen by these countries as an end in themselves, but as a way of demonstrating a balance of power for future negotiations.
China. No less relevant, but less in the news, EU-China relations will be the subject of the ministers’ discussions on Monday, with, here too, a report from Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who was in Beijing from 27 to 29 March. He met the Vice Premier, He Lifeng, the Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, and the Minister of Customs, Sun Meijung.
Trade with China is directly linked to the latest developments on the other side of the Atlantic, as the new US tariffs are likely to trigger changes in trade flows around the world and increase the proportion of Chinese products arriving in Europe. So it is an obvious discussion for ministers on Monday.
Here too, ministers are expected to give a political view of the situation, in view of the latest measures taken against China and the negotiations underway, notably on the case of Chinese electric vehicles. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)