European Union Votes to Impose Tariffs on US Goods

The European Commission said Wednesday (April 9) that the European Union will start collecting tariffs on U.S. goods, starting Tuesday (April 15).

EU member states voted Wednesday in favor of this move, which the Commission proposed as a countermeasure against tariffs the U.S. imposed on EU steel and aluminum, the Commission said in a statement released Wednesday.

The statement said the duties will start being collected Tuesday, after the Commission concludes its internal procedures and the implementing act is published.

It added that the trade countermeasures can be suspended at any time, if the U.S. agrees to a “fair and balanced negotiated outcome.”

“The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy,” the statement said. “The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the US, which would be balanced and mutually beneficial.”

It was reported Monday (April 7) that the EU was ready to start implementing countermeasures if it did not reach a deal with the U.S. to remove and prevent the country’s new tariffs.

EU trade ministers said at the time that the bloc was set to approve one set of tariffs targeting the U.S. on April 15 and planned to implement a second set a month after that.

There is a smaller volume of goods for the EU to target than the U.S. can — given that the EU imports 334 billion euros of U.S. goods, while the U.S. imports 532 billion euros of EU goods — but the American position could also be pressured by the stock market declines that began with the imposition of U.S. tariffs.

The EU’s announcement came on the same day that President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he was raising the tariff on China to 125%, effective immediately, after that country announced retaliatory moves.

Trump said in the same post that for 75 countries that have contacted representatives of the U.S. to negotiate a solution to trade issues, and have not “retaliated in any way, shape or form against the United States,” he authorized a 90-day pause and lowered reciprocal tariffs to 10%, effective immediately.

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