Respond quickly, but in a “strong and proportionate” way to the commercial attack by Donald Trump. This Wednesday, March 12, at midnight past midnight, the customs duties wanted by the American president on steel and aluminum for the products from the European Union have officially entered into force. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had prepared her reply. Barely a few hours after the application of the offensive initiated by the United States, Brussels announced a response up to 26 billion euros on American products.
Brussels described as “unjustified” the salvo of customs duties put in place on will of the American billionaire. “Customs duties are bad for business and even worse for consumers,” said Ursula von der Leyen, while “deeply regretted” this situation. The total reprisals provided for by Brussels corresponds more or less to that of the amount of customs taxes now imposed by the United States on the 27. Even if the manager ensures that Europeans “remain ready for negotiation” with the Trump administration, the European Commission has decided to be firm to put Washington under pressure.
Harley-Davidson, jeans and peanut butter
In detail, what American products could be affected by this retaliatory program? To understand this, we must be interested in the two phases of the countermeasures plan developed by Ursula von der Leyen this Wednesday. The German first pointed out that a first series of taxes, in the amount of 8 billion euros, were going to return into force on April 1ᵉʳ. This possibility will aim for certain very precise goods already targeted during the first term of Donald Trump. At the time, the Republican had set major customs of customs against European steel and aluminum, leading the EU to announce taxes on the Harley-Davidson, peanut butter or even jeans.
The objective? Take an emblematic products of the American economy. All of these sanctions, initially staggered from 2018 to 2021, were not all materialized. Only part of them were really applied: the arrival of Joe Biden at the White House had enabled an agreement to suspend these European reprisals. But the end of this break period was stopped … next March 31. All of these sanctions will be effective this time on this date and will affect the products already targeted at the time.
What worry about certain sectors, such as that of spirits. This pending plan was indeed planning to tax bourbon, this very popular American whiskey. The announcement of European reciprocity measures “arrives at a particularly difficult time for the spirits sector, in a context of geopolitical tensions and slowdown in many key markets,” lambashed the organization of representatives of the interests of the sector, Spirits Europe, in a statement published this Wednesday. According to this lobby, the consequences of the trade war between the two powers could be devastating in this area of activity, already affected by the consequences of the previous presidency of Donald Trump.
99 pages of a list of possible products to tax
Beyond this first part of the taxes directly activated on April 1ᵉʳ, Ursula von der Leyen also mentioned another series of future sanctions, up to 18 billion euros. According to the manager, they could be set up by mid-April. A whole section of the American economy could then be affected. “We are trying to be intelligent and hit where it hurts,” said European industry curator Stéphane Séjénéné, in reaction to the reprisals of the EU. The former French foreign minister endorses the fact of directing this response in priority towards products from republican states, pro-Trump, but also towards American farmers, who massively support the billionaire.
Concretely, what will be the American goods that may suffer from these sanctions? Impossible to know it with precision for the moment. On his website, The European Commission published this Wednesday an endless list of products “likely to experience” retaliatory measures. Hundreds of occurrences, extremely varied, are listed among the 99 pages of the document. There are foodstuffs (turkey, milk, yogurt, cereals, wines, alcohol, etc.), textiles (anoraks, t-shirts, etc.), metals (including steel and aluminum), animal food, DIY tools, furniture, contact lenses …
So many possibilities for taxing products which must still be discussed with the different states. The Commission will therefore organize a “two -week consultation with EU stakeholders” to determine which “good products” are to target among this inventory. The issue of these exchanges? “Ensure an effective response, […] Reducing to the minimum disturbances for European companies and consumers “, specifies Brussels. It must be said that these decisions also involve direct effects on the orders of certain European companies, which import products from the United States necessary for their activity.
Automobile, oil and spared gas
The list of American products truly affected by these sanctions is therefore not yet established with certainty. On the other hand, certain types of goods are not registered in the table communicated by the European Commission. The three sectors of the American economy that export the most to Europe – drugs and pharmaceutical equipment, petroleum and natural gas – are not directly mentioned, with the exception of a possible tax on … Piners for the throat. Same observation for the automotive industry. They should therefore be relatively spared by commercial countermeasures decided by Brussels, even if they will still suffer the consequences of a larger price of certain products.
With this strategy, the European Union still retains assets to be drawn to retaliate in the event of new customs duties pronounced by Donald Trump. A cautious approach, because the American billionaire does not seem to have appreciated the response of Ursula von der Leyen. This Wednesday afternoon, he promised Washington to “reply” to European countermeasures. “To attack American companies is not fair,” he said. Before repeating, once again, that the United States “will not be mistreated”.