With global stock markets reeling from the announcement of “reciprocal tariffs” by US President Donald Trump on 2 April, EU Member States are calling for calm. They recommend that the European Commission continue to negotiate with the US administration, in the hope of a U-turn, before making any new announcements. EU trade ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 7 April, were united behind this objective.
“All of us would prefer a negotiated solution that would take us away from a potential trade war”, said Poland’s Undersecretary of State for Economic Development, Michał Baranowski, after the meeting with his counterparts. And this, even if opinions differ on the method for reaching an agreement with the United States.
Ahead of the meeting, the Polish Undersecretary of State stressed the need, in his view, to put cooperation before threats in the negotiations: “So far, the approach was a bit too much ‘shoot first, talk later’”.
The European Commission is repeating at every opportunity that the EU remains ready to negotiate. On Monday 7 April, both the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, stated that the EU had proposed an agreement to the United States for the reciprocal and total elimination of tariffs on industrial products. Ursula von der Leyen said that this offer, made back in February, had not received an “adequate response” from the US administration. However, she says that the offer is “still on the table”.
Maroš Šefčovič was pleased to be in regular contact with the US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and the US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer. According to several European sources, however, the failure of the negotiations so far should not be attributed to them. Rather, it is the US President and his close team who are not listening to European proposals.
Preparation of the first countermeasures. Insofar as the European Commission’s objective must be to negotiate a solution, efforts should not all be focused on the response, according to several EU member states.
The Latvian, Italian and Irish trade ministers called for time to negotiate and for retaliatory measures not to be rushed. Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, even put forward the idea of postponing the first wave of European countermeasures and “freezing” the initial list of products subject to tariffs.
However, the Trade Commissioner confirmed the planned timetable for the first wave of measures in response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium. On the evening of Monday 7 April, the Commission planned to send the exact list of products concerned to the Member States for approval in a vote on Wednesday 9 April.
If the EU27 give the green light on Wednesday, the tariffs will come into force the following week, on 15 April. The second wave of tariffs, also announced on 12 March, are expected to be applied a month later.
According to Maroš Šefčovič, there is no longer any question of delaying these tariffs: the EU has repeatedly shown its willingness to negotiate, and this has not prevented Donald Trump from imposing his various tariffs. “Therefore we have to proceed I think with adopting our countermeasures”, he said.
The next steps of the counter-attack. As for the next steps in the response, the European Commission’s message has not changed since 2 April: all the tools are on the table, and the priority for the time being is negotiation.
Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, believes that the EU has the means to act “decisively” because, in his view, the United States is now in a position of weakness. “Elon Musk’s statements over the weekend prove it”. He was referring to the statement by American billionaire, Elon Musk, who supported a free trade area between the United States and the European Union.
Robert Habeck mentioned two credible avenues for responding to the Americans: raising prices on pharmaceutical exports, on which the United States depends, and using the “anti-coercion” tool.
His French counterpart, Laurent Saint-Martin, agreed, saying that neither measures on US services nor the use of the “anti-coercion” tool should be ruled out.
“If you don’t show that you can retaliate if there is no willingness to de-escalate, then you are not going into the negotiations with the right weapons and the right means”, he said at the end of the meeting, while defending tooth and nail the objective of reducing tariffs. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)