Pressure barrels European corporate giants from the German automaker Mercedes-Benz Group AG to the French giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE to EU in order to resist the threats of the president of USADonald Trump for duties.
In an attempt to prevent a transit trade war (between the US – EU), some executives have held backdrops with US officials to pursue their own interests. Initiatives included pressure on European governments and Brussels for a quick agreement and removing emblematic US products – such as Bourbon – from a list of goods that will be targeted in retaliation to relieve the possibility of escalating.
Motivated by concerns about their results and their competitive disadvantages, European companies are increasingly pressing both publicly and privately as the July 925 deadline approaches to reach an agreement to avoid 50% duties in almost all US imports from the EU.
If an agreement proves unsatisfactory, the European Commission – the EU executive arm – proposed duties to US exports to Europe worth about 95 billion euros in response to car contributions and minerals.
The requests of the Member States and the industry would reduce the list by € 70 billion, according to Bloomberg information. Koiion reacted because of the concerns that the package would be weakened, people said.
“We are completely focusing on a positive result,” said Maros Sefcovic, head of the Bloc Trade Department, to reporters in Brussels on Monday, July 1, 2025. traveled to Washington for the last round of talks today (3.7.25).
The EU is now willing to accept a trade agreement that will include a 10% universal duty for many of its exports, although the US wants to commit to lower rates in key areas such as medicines, alcohol, semiconductors and commercial aircraft. In recent weeks, the EU has reduced the tone of its provocation.
At the heart of the corporate reaction are the lucrative trade ties that European companies do not have the luxury of abandoning. Automotives and medical equipment companies benefit from the highest prices and wider US profit margins, while also based on Silicon Valley software and American -made components, such as superconducting magnets and X -ray pipes. Intelligence and Biotechnology. This combination makes many corporate leaders cautious about a strong EU response.
“There is a perception that the punishment of US exporters would help the European industry. It is simply not true,” said Oliver Bisazza, Managing Director of the Medech Europe Pressure Team, representing companies such as Philips NV, Bayer AG and Siemens Healthiners AG. “If the EU retaliates, the sector is doubled and the cost of producing medical appliances is increasing.”
Negotiations between Brussels and Washington have been in progress since May and tensions are high. Trump has shaken current trade arrangements as “completely unacceptable” and has described the EU “more wicked than China”.
While the chairman of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has warned that “all options” are on the table, its position has been undermined by companies working to weaken the bloc.
EU officials say that some of the most subversive maneuvers come from Germany’s automakers. Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen have made their own proposals in discussions with US officials.
CEOs and other senior officials of all three manufacturers traveled to Washington for meetings in closed doors with Trump allies, including Haward Lutnik Commerce Minister. They have made little progress despite the extension of peace bids.
BMW has announced new investments in the US, Mercedes conveyed the construction of the SUV GLC – among the most successful brand models – to Alabama, and Swedish Volvo Cars AB pledged to expand its production in the US. European officials are concerned that companies could entice their suppliers to also carry some investment and production on the other side of the Atlantic.
Similarly, a series of European pharmaceuticals, including French Sanofi, have pledged to spend billions on the growth and production of drugs in the US.
Industrial groups representing French brandy and Irish whiskey producers have also intensified pressure efforts, warning that tariff retaliation will hit an area where the US and China represent over 80% of exports. The commercial associations in Paris and Dublin have released positions that urge Brussels to decline, arguing that alcoholic beverages have become political hostage in a dispute that has little to do with their industries.
For European Boards, time is thin. During Trump’s first term, strong growth in China and the EU made the US slightly less critical and there was also no war in Ukraine. But now, domestic demand is sluggish, competition from China intensifies and the loss of cheap Russian energy adds costs,
“There is already a measurable reduction in direct investment and specific losses in prosperity,” said David Deissner, Managing Director of the German Foundation for Family Businesses and Politics, at a press conference in Berlin this week. “Tariff measures are already acting as a trade barrier.”
In the context of its wider strategy, the EU is working to improve the internal block market and is in a hurry to complete trade agreements around the world to provide companies with US differentiation opportunities.
For Brussels, the stakes are high. Collective negotiation is a central element of EU power. This section was maintained during Brexit, but it could now be worn out as talks reach the end.
“In order to optimize the EU’s interest, the Commission must really take the lead,” said Michael Plummer, Professor of International Economics at the Sais Europe Campus of Johns Hopkins University in Bologna.
A weak result with Washington could be transmitted to other controversy, especially with China, on issues such as electricity subsidies, solar panels and access to clean technologies – and harm the prospects for basic industries and investment.
Along with business pressure, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz criticized the Commission’s approach to commercial conversations as overly complex and called for more emphasis on key sectors such as cars, medicinal products, chemicals and machinery – their larger manufacturers.
In this context, strong voices are urging self -restraint. LVMH Bernard Arnault has warned that failure to reach an agreement could be devastating to the French wine and alcohol industry and called for a compromise instead of a collision, even proposing a free trade zone between the EU.
The billionaire, who has known Trump since the 1980s, has been personally involved and visited Washington at least twice after Trump’s swearing -in, while Alexander’s son met with officials himself in May.
“I hope to be able, with my humble means and contacts, to persuade Europe to adopt the most constructive attitude,” Arnault told French legislators in May.