Breathtaking, but not without plans for her own response, the EU the announcements Trump for the imposition of “no exceptions” duties today (2.4.25).
The first collective processing of Trump duties against the EU, but also the Brussels response to them, at EU level is expected to be done On April 7 – 8, 2025, the Council of European Ministers of Commerce is scheduled, although the final answer may take a few days extra (ie around mid -April) to be announced by Brussels.
It is not yet clear what new duties will be announced by US President Donald Trump today, but one is certain: the US president is annoyed that European companies overall sell significantly more goods in the US than US companies in the EU.
And something else: The duties that Trump will announce today will come into “immediate effect”, according to White House spokesman Carolin Levitt yesterday (1.4.25).
According to a report by the German News Agency, the key questions arising from the situation are as follows:
What does Trump plan?
Trump speaks of mutual duties. In principle, this means that the US will increase duties wherever they currently charge fewer than their commercial partners.
Trump also announced that he would consider other trade barriers, such as strict import regulations or subsidies. In Brussels, the worst is expected now, namely that Trump could impose 20% or 25% of total imports on all imports from Europe.
Targeted duties on specific products would not have such a big impact on the overall economy. EU exports of pharmaceuticals, wood, copper or semiconductors have recently been referred to as potential targets (beyond cars).
Trump has also announced duties … 200% on the imports of alcoholic beverages from the EU.
How will the EU react?
If the US does not come to the negotiating table, the EU committee intends to answer. A Brussels spokesman has said that countermeasures are being prepared with a “maximum impact”.
In order to make it more difficult for the US president to make specific calculations, the EU remains silent on the matter.
It has already been announced that special duties suspended in US products, such as jeans, whiskey Burbon, motorcycles and peanut butter, will be re -inflicted in mid -April – in response to US special tariffs on steel and aluminum imports already in force. Additional measures are likely to affect many other US products.
The EU Commission argues that The US sells more services to the EU than the other way around.
The main reason is the big American technology companies. Considering both goods and services, there is only a small surplus of 48 billion euros, according to the committee.
This accounts for 3% of the total trade between the US and the EU.
Already There are appeals by the European Parliament for threats of action against US companies such as the X platform, which belongs to Elon Musk, Google, Amazon and Netflix.
For example, The Chairman of the Commerce Committee on the European Parliament, Bernd Lange (SPD), considers taxes possible on digital services.
In a less terrible scenario, Trump could quickly be persuaded to temporarily suspend duties again – and then start negotiations. In the worst scenario, there would be a long trade war – with serious consequences for the economy. Even in the case of negotiations, however, it is not expected to be everything as before in the end.
What could the EU offer in the US in the negotiations?
In addition to the Decrees of tariffs in goods such as US cars, new agreements are considered an option.
According to the EU Commission, The EU and Trump could conclude a new agreement to expand US liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion.
Would also be possible The introduction of more military technology and agricultural products from the US.
What does this mean for the German economy?
The US is Germany’s most important commercial partner before China and the Netherlands. In 2024, German companies delivered goods worth 161.4 billion euros to the US, ten percent of total exports. On the contrary, in 2024, America was imported 91.4 billion euros of goods to Germany.
German automakers are already facing heavy burdens due to the special 25% duties already announced. The new US duties are also dangerous to the pharmaceutical industry. Almost a quarter of German exports of medicinal products went to the US in 2023. On a percentage basis, this is even more than in engineering (13%) and the chemical industry (7.2%).