EU prepares new tariffs on €100 billion of US exports if they fail to reach a deal

The European Union plans to impose 30% tariffs on goods worth about €100 billion if it fails to reach a deal with the United States and President Donald Trump imposes his own tariffs on most of the blocʼs exports after August 1.

This was reported by a spokesman for the European Commission, Bloomberg and The Guardian report.

In the first wave of countermeasures, Brussels will combine the already approved list of tariffs on €21 billion of US goods and the previously proposed list of additional €72 billion of US goods into one package.

The new EU tariffs will target US exports, including Boeing planes, US-made cars and bourbon. In total, the tariffs will hit about a third of US exports to the EU.

Now the EU and its member states, such as Germany, have strengthened their position in response to the USʼs tougher approach in negotiating a deal. Germany is even ready to support the use of the Counter-Assistance Instrument (ACI), but only if an agreement cannot be reached.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump announced tariff deals with the Philippines and Japan, which resulted in lower tariffs than expected. Tariffs on Japanese cars were reduced to 15%, while large exporters such as the EU currently face a 25% rate.

The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the EU has not yet come up with anything as creative as Japan, saying the blocʼs main problem is the complexity of decision-making among its 27 members.

• In early July, Trump sent a letter to the EU warning that most European exports would be subject to a 30% tariff starting August 1. In addition, Washington has already imposed a 25% tariff on cars and parts, doubled duties on steel and aluminum, and threatened new tariffs on medicines, microchips, and copper. The EU estimates that current US tariffs already cover almost 70% of the bloc’s exports to the US (€380 billion).
• The EU is trying to get more exemptions than Washington is offering and wants to protect itself from future tariffs on certain sectors. And while the deal will be more beneficial for the US than for the EU, Brussels is assessing its overall balance before deciding on possible countermeasures in response.

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