European trade ministers were hopeful for a negotiated trade deal after President Donald Trump announced 30% tariffs on the European Union.
European trade ministers were hopeful Monday for a negotiated trade deal after President Donald Trump announced 30% tariffs on the European Union, but also expressed resolve in preparing countermeasures if talks break down.
The ministers met Monday in Brussels following Trump’s surprise announcement of such hefty tariffs, which could have repercussions for governments, companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. The EU is America’s biggest business partner and the world’s largest trading bloc.
“The EU remains ready to react and that includes robust and proportionate countermeasures if required and there was a strong, feeling in the room of unity,” Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, told reporters after the meeting.
The tariffs, also announced for Mexico, are set to start on Aug. 1 and could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the U.S., and destabilize economies from Portugal to Norway.
Meanwhile, Brussels decided to suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods scheduled to take effect Monday in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month.
The “countermeasures” by the EU, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 27 member countries, will be delayed until Aug.
