TMTPOST -- The European Union official seem to gear up new countermeasures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs to push for a desired trade deal ahead of Trump’s July 9 deadline.
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Credit：Xinhua News Agency
The EU readies retaliatory tariffs as a senior official recently has warned to make a “credible threat” of retaliation in Trump’s trade war is necessary if it wants to get a good deal with the U.S., the Financial Times (FT) reported on Tuesday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was prepared to threaten retaliation to extract a better deal since a possible strong response would help convince Trump to cut his tariffs on EU, Bjoer Seibert, von der Leyen’s chief of staff told the EU’s ambassadors following the G7 summit in Canada last week, according to the report.
The EU has readied for possible countermeasures in case of failure to reach agreements with the Trump administration.The European Commission on May 8 said it has launched a public consultation on a list of US imports for the possible EU countermeasures, if ongoing EU-U.S. negotiations do not result in a mutually beneficial outcome and the removal of the US tariffs. The list of U.S. goods, which could be subject to the countermeasures, is totally worth of €95 billion, covering a broad range of industrial and agricultural products.
Trump on May 23 vowed to slap a 50% tariff starting on June 1 as negotiations between the EU and the United Sates “going nowhere.” However, after a phone with von der Leyen,Trump on May 25 said he would hold off until July 9, the same deadline as Trump’s 90-day pause of his proposed 20% reciprocal tariffs on EU that is set to end.
Seibert was reported to call for the EU ambassadors to support for the planned tariffs on €95 billion worth of U.S. goods, and reveal that the commission was also preparing measures hitting U.S. services, including levies on American tech companies and limiting access to public procurement contracts for American businesses.
Reports last week suggested the EU is exploring new ways to push for a deal as Trump’s July 9 deadline looms. The U.S. and the EU seem closer to a deal to address multiple non-tariff trade issues, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing a draft agreement on reciprocal trade. The draft proposed the EU to grant U.S. companies exceptions to its flagship Digital Market Act (DMA) and to environmental laws such as the carbon border tax. It is unclear whether the EU will address the tariff issues in a separate deal, or if both sides will decide to extend those negotiations beyond the July 9 tariff deadline.
A day prior to the report, advisor to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Michael Clauss, revealed that the European Union is seeking a Britain-style trade deal with the U.S. Such a deal leaves some tariffs in place after the deadline next month, further delaying retaliation against Washington.
The European Commission on Monday said nothing is off the table during the EU-U.S. talks, for the first time signaling flexibility on DMA, its major digital rulebook.
“We will from our side definitely not speculate on a potential outcome, on what may or not be affected,” said the commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier when asked whether EU legislation, such as the bloc’s green and digital rules, were still red lines in talks with Trump. The spokesperson said the bloc want to find a fair and balanced, mutually beneificial deal and he will not “prejudge what can be or is not in this deal.”
The shift in position implied in the remarks drew immediate criticism from lawmakers who said they fear Brussels will go too far in negotiations. Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, a French MEP from the Renew party, slammed any leeway as an “unacceptable capitulation”. She warned it would set “a dangerous precedent” if the EU allows countries to pressure it into rewriting laws after they’ve been agreed.
German Chancellor Merz on Tuesday indicated his administration would back a more muscular approach if needed. “We’re ready to use a variety of options if there is no deal. We can and we will defend our interests,” he told the Bundestag.
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