BRUSSELS, May 9 — The European Commission yesterday proposed countermeasures on up to 95 billion euros (RM460 billion) of US imports if negotiations with Washington fail to remove the series of tariffs applied by US President Donald Trump.
The new measures, representing the EU's response to US import taxes on cars and Trump's broader "reciprocal"tariffs, would target US wine, bourbon and other spirits, fish, aircraft, car and car parts, chemicals, electrical equipment, health products and machinery.
The European Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 27-nation EU, said it was launching a public consultation to June 10 for EU members and businesses to react to the proposals. It will then take a final decision on its counter-tariffs, likely to hit a smaller volume of US imports.
"The EU remains fully committed to finding negotiated outcomes with the US," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. "At the same time, we continue preparing for all possibilities."
The announcement of a new list of products the EU might target came on the day Trump announced a trade deal between the United States and Britain, the first to soften the impact of Trump's global tariff blitz on an important trade partner.
The EU faces 25 per cent US import tariffs on its steel, aluminium and cars and so-called "reciprocal" tariffs of 10 per cent for almost all other goods, a levy that could rise to 20 per cent after Trump's 90-day pause expires on July 8.
The Commission has repeatedly said it would prefer a negotiated solution to tit-for-tat tariffs, but wants to have a retaliatory response ready for July in case no solution is found.
In April, the EU approved duties mostly of 25 per cent on US imports amounting to 21 billion euros (RM101 billion), including maize, wheat, motorcycles and clothing. These, a response to US metals tariffs, were suspended before entering into force, after Trump announced his 90-day pause.
The Commission has said that US tariffs now cover 380 billion euros (RM1.8 trillion) or 70 per cent of EU goods trade to the US and that could rise to 97 per cent after further US investigations into pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals and trucks.
The EU has not included pharmaceutical products or semiconductors on its list.
The Commission has been encouraging affected businesses to submit their views. At a consultation in March into the EU's countermeasures against US metals tariffs, the Commission received 660 responses.
US Vice-President JD Vance said on Wednesday discussions between the United States and Europe were ongoing and that Washington was pressing the EU to lower its own tariffs and regulatory barriers to improve the trading relationship.
— Reuters
