BRUSSELS — The European Commission said it would respond in one strike to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of auto and reciprocal tariffs later on Wednesday.
“There would be two [responses]. There will be the first response to the steel and aluminum tariffs from the U.S. And there will be a second response that clusters together everything else,” said Olof Gill, the Commission’s spokesperson for trade.
“The first is going through the internal process … And the second, as I mentioned, will be issued after the expected announcements from Washington later today.”
Trump is due to make his tariff announcement, which he has styled as U.S. “Liberation Day,” at 4 p.m. in Washington D.C. That’s 10 p.m. in Brussels.
While details remain sketchy, Brussels expects Trump to announce tariffs as high as 20-25 percent on all EU exports to the U.S. — a level of protectionism unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s that threatens to disrupt global trade, hit economic output in America’s trading partners, and raise the cost of goods for U.S. consumers.
The Commission is finalizing two lists of countermeasures that would be worth a combined €26 billion to respond to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, in consultation with EU member countries and businesses.
Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is due to meet with EU ambassadors on Friday over lunch to plan next steps, according to two EU diplomats, ahead of a meeting of the bloc’s trade ministers in Luxembourg next Monday.
Just last week, Trump announced he would impose a 25 percent tariffs on foreign-made cars. Those tariffs also kick in on Wednesday.
Gill declined to give more details on the timing of the EU response, stressing it would come at an “appropriate time.” He also said there was no plan at present for Šefčovič to visit Washington to try and strike an agreement with the Trump administration. Šefčovič came away empty-handed from a six-hour meeting with top U.S. trade officials last week.
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