EU hits back at Trump’s trade war with US$28 billion in planned tariffs on US imports

The EU’s retaliatory tariffs will hit US products including meat, wine and clothing as well as chewing gum, vacuum cleaners and toilet paper

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (left) and EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency Maros Sefcovic (right) before a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on March 11. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 4:46pm, 6 Apr 2025Updated: 2:28pm, 7 Apr 2025

European Union countries will seek to present a united front in the coming days against US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, likely approving a first set of targeted countermeasures on up to US$28 billion of US imports from dental floss to diamonds.

Such a move would mean the EU joining China and Canada in imposing retaliatory tariffs on the United States in an early escalation of what some fear will become a global trade war, making goods more expensive for billions of consumers and pushing economies around the world into recession.

The 27-nation bloc faces 25 per cent import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars and “reciprocal” tariffs of 20 per cent from Wednesday for almost all other goods.

Trump’s tariffs cover some 70 per cent of the EU’s exports to the US – worth in total €532 billion (US$585 billion) last year – with likely duties on copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and timber still to come.

The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, will propose to members late on Monday a list of US products to hit with extra duties in response to Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs rather than the broader reciprocal levies.

It is set to include US meat, cereals, wine, wood and clothing as well as chewing gum, dental floss, vacuum cleaners and toilet paper.