US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new 20% tariff on the European Union drew a sharp rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Muhamad Yehia
The EU leader said it was a major blow to the world economy and the consequences “will be dire for millions of people.”
Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, she said, “and this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens.”
Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the US but was also prepared to respond with countermeasures
Her comments come as US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement was met, initially, with measured reactions from key trading partners, highlighting the lack of appetite for a full-fledged trade war
Trump presented the import taxes, which he calls “reciprocal tariffs” and range from 10% to 49%, in the simplest terms: the US would do to its trading partners what he said they had been doing to the US for decades.
“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”
The president promised that “Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.” He framed it not just as an economic issue, but a question of national security that threatens “our very way of life
Financial markets were jolted, with US stock futures down by as much as 3% early Thursday and Tokyo’s market leading losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than $2 a barrel and the price of bitcoin dropped 4.4%
Leaders react to tariffs
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the British government said the United States remains the UK’s “closest ally.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the UK hoped to strike a trade deal to “mitigate the impact” of the 10% tariffs on British goods announced by Trump.
“Nobody wants a trade war and our intention remains to secure a deal,” said Reynolds. “But nothing is off the table and the government will do everything necessary to defend the UK’s national interest
Italy’s conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni described the new 20% tariffs against the European Union as “wrong,” saying they benefit neither side.
“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favour of other global players,” Meloni said in a Facebook post.
Brazil’s government said it was considering taking the case to the World Trade Organization. And later, in a rare display of unity, Brazil’s Congress unanimously passed a reciprocity bill to allow its government to retaliate against any country or trade bloc that imposes tariffs on Brazilian goods.
Minimising damage
Asian countries that are among the biggest exporters to the US pledged to take swift action to support automakers and other businesses likely to be affected.
South Korea’s acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, told officials to work with business groups to analyse the potential impact of the new 25% tariff to “minimise damage,” the trade ministry said.
China’s commerce ministry said Beijing would “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” without saying exactly what it might do. China has reacted to earlier rounds of higher tariffs by imposing higher duties on US exports of farm products, while limiting exports of strategically important minerals used for high-tech industries such as electric vehicles.
“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue,” it said.
Some countries took issue with the White House’s calculations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the US tariffs imposed on his country were totally unwarranted, but Australia will not retaliate.
“President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10%,” said Albanese. The US and Australia have a free trade agreement and the US has a $2-to-$1 trade surplus with Australia. “This is not the act of a friend.”
Trump said the United States bought $3 billion of Australian beef last year, but Australia would not accept US beef imports. Albanese said the ban on raw US beef was for biosecurity reasons.
The 29% tariff imposed on the tiny South Pacific outpost of Norfolk Island came as a shock. The Australian territory has a population of around 2,000 people and the economy revolves around tourism.
“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, told the AP Thursday. “We don’t charge tariffs on anything. I can’t think of any non-tariff barriers that would be in place either, so we’re scratching our heads here.”
New Zealand also took issue with Trump’s tariff logic.
“We don’t have a 20% tariff rate,” said trade minister Todd McClay, adding that New Zealand was “a very low tariff regime” and the correct figure was below the 10% baseline rate applied by the US to all countries.
“We won’t be looking to retaliate. That would put up prices on New Zealand consumers and it would be inflationary,” he said
Spared for the moment from the latest round of tariffs were Mexico and Canada, for goods already qualified under their free trade agreement with the United States. Yet, previously announced 25% tariffs on auto imports were scheduled to take effect at midnight.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday she would wait to take action on Thursday when it was clear how Trump’s announcement would affect Mexico.
“It’s not a question of if you impose tariffs on me, I’m going to impose tariffs on you,” she said Wednesday morning. “Our interest is in strengthening the Mexican economy.”
Canada had imposed retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, imposed taxes on 26 billion euros’ worth ($28 billion) of US goods, including bourbon, prompting Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol.
Little to gain
As Trump read the list of countries that would be targeted on Wednesday, he repeatedly said he didn’t blame them for the trade barriers they imposed to protect their own nations’ businesses. “But we’re doing the same thing right now,” he said.
“In the face of unrelenting economic warfare, the United States can no longer continue with a policy of unilateral economic surrender,” Trump said.
Speaking from a business forum in India, Chilean President Gabriel Boric warned that such measures, in addition to causing uncertainty, challenge the “mutually agreed rules” and the “principles that govern international trade.”
Colombia President Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump before, said via X that the tariffs marked a global milestone: “Today the neoliberalism that proclaimed free-trade policies all over the world has died.”
Analysts say there’s little to be gained from an all-out trade war, neither in the United States or in other countries.
“Once again, Trump has put Europe at a crossroads,” said Matteo Villa, senior analyst at Italy’s Institute for International Political Studies.
“If Trump really imposes high tariffs, Europe will have to respond, but the paradox is that the EU would be better off doing nothing,” he added, noting that the EU bloc depends more on exports to the US than vice versa.
“On the other hand, Trump seems to understand only the language of force, and this indicates the need for a strong and immediate response,” Villa said. “Probably the hope, in Brussels, is that the response will be strong enough to induce Trump to negotiate and, soon, to backtrack.”