A top European Union official warned the U.S. on Tuesday that the world’s biggest trade bloc “holds lots of cards” relating to coping with the Trump administration’s recent tariffs and has a great plan to retaliate if forced to.
U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to roll out taxes on imports from other countries on Wednesday. He says they are going to free the U.S. from reliance on foreign goods.
He’s vowed to impose “reciprocal” tariffs to match the duties that other countries charge on U.S. products, dubbing April 2 “Liberation Day.”
“Europe has not began this confrontation. We don’t necessarily need to retaliate, but whether it is needed, we’ve got a robust plan to retaliate and we’ll use it,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.
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The commission, the EU’s executive branch, negotiates trade deals on behalf of the bloc’s 27 member countries and manages trade disputes on their behalf.
“Europe holds lots of cards, from trade to technology to the dimensions of our market. But this strength can also be built on our readiness to take firm counter measures if needed. All instruments are on the table,” von der Leyen said, at a European Parliament session in Strasbourg, France.
The commission already intends to impose duties on U.S. goods value some $28 billion in mid-April in response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. The EU duties will goal steel and aluminum products, but additionally textiles, home appliances and farm goods.
Loads stays unknown about how Trump’s levies will actually be implemented, notably the “reciprocal” tariffs, and the EU wants to evaluate their impact before taking retaliatory motion.
“So many Europeans feel utterly disheartened by the announcement from the USA,” von der Leyen said. “That is the most important and most prosperous trade relationship worldwide. We might all be higher off if we could discover a constructive solution.”
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