One area where EU member states have come together is on a coordinated EU response against the US tariffs. This move includes tariffs the US laid down on lots of countries, particularly steel and aluminium and extensive tariffs on many Chinese goods. Beginning with US steel & aluminium exports, the EU will hit back at the US with its first round of counter-tariffs against U.S. goods, with more tariff rises to follow on many other products. It is first important to first learn import tariffs in EU step by step.
Introduction of Import Tariffs Step by Step in EU
The European Union will levy duties — with most of them 25% — on a list of 105 U.S. products beginning next Tuesday. This step is in response to US tariffs on steel and aluminium. However, there are more extensive duties and those on autos are still not settled inside the EU.
This EU counter measure list includes US goods such as corn, wheat, barley, rice, motorcycles, poultry, fruit, wood, textiles and dental floss. These imports from the USA were worth almost €21 billion last year. These tariffs will be implemented in three phases, with the initial phase scheduled for April 15, the second on May 16, and the third phase targeting the same almonds and soy beans on December 1. However the counter measures may be postponed.
Tariff Counter Measures May Be Deferred Until the Issue Is Resolved
And the European Commission has since said these countermeasures were not intended to last for ever. It has said duties can be reimposed at any time should the United States “undertake a fair and mutually acceptable negotiated resolution of our outstanding trade negotiations. It also signals the EU’s eagerness to deescalate if there is a path to a diplomatic solution.”
Updates of Preliminary Lists and by Consensus with Member States
The 27 EU countries’ trade experts committee voted on the European Commission’s proposed retaliatory measures. Later EU diplomats said the plan had enjoyed broad support, with 26 member states in Favor and only one, Hungary, opposing it. Such a move was widely expected, after the Commission consulted EU members and updated an initial list of US products throughout the course of mid-March. Ultimately, although the final list affected a wide range of goods, it removed certain US dairy and alcohol from the original suggestion. At the time, France and Italy — key EU wine-exporting countries — had raised alarm following a US threat of tariffs on a variety of European wine and spirits. All these moves aspire to initiate dynamic changes in the world.
Dynamic Changes in Global Trade Relations and Multilateral Responses
World trade is, however, interconnected so when one region imposes tariffs another has been quick to respond, as the counter tariffs imposed by the European Union show. It follows retaliatory measures by other big US trading partners — China and Canada — against US tariffs. And, in a wider sense, this is a cooperative effort to adapt the world trade setting, as countries are reacting with required alterations of their particular trade policy considering those of others.
European Union retaliatory tariff first wave response is against US steel and aluminium tariffs, but response for broader tariffs and car duties is still being considered. In the case of retaliatory goods, they appear to be selected on the basis of multiple criteria, including but not limited to, amount of trade and degree of effect on specific industries in the EU. EU is this close in fact, to a coordinated US tariff response to the metal’s tariffs. The value of US imports the EU is targeting with the new measures is less than the value of EU metals exports hit by the US tariffs.
But as the European Commission has framed this comment regarding the suspension of countermeasures should a negotiated solution not be reached, it suggests a sense of dialogue and resolution. The EU will play tit-for-tat tariffs, but is a willing partner for those who share strategic interests and are committed to fair and reciprocal trade. There may be more discussions and negotiations over the weeks and months ahead, and they may finally settle those foundational trade issues between the US and all of its critical trade partners.
