EU prepares heavy artillery for US in tariff war
Commission representatives briefed member states on Wednesday about the progress of the negotiations with the US, presenting them with a fact sheet outlining the various steps of the decision-making process required to trigger this trade defence instrument, considered the nuclear option. The measures would enable the EU to restrict access to public procurement, licenses, or intellectual property rights for services from a third country.
One of the sources said there seemed to be a broad qualified majority between the member states for deploying the anti-coercion instrument in the event of a no-deal scenario.
'Tonight's dinner between Macron and Merz will be decisive to get a qualified majority," the second source said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will host French President Emmanuel Macron for talks over dinner in Berlin on Wednesday.
According to the same source, the Commission is working on retaliatory measures targeting US digital and financial services if no deal is reached by 1 August.
Both EU diplomats confirmed to Euronews that the Commission and the US administration were discussing a 15% baseline tariff on EU imports with some exemptions, but said that negotiations were far from over.
Countermeasures
The EU and the US have been negotiating for several months to resolve their trade dispute. The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars, and 10% on all other imports.
Discussions appeared to be heading toward a baseline US tariff of 10% on EU imports. Strategic sectors such as automobiles and pharma, however, remained points of contention.
But on 12 July, US President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the EU by threatening to impose 30% tariffs as of 1 August if no agreement was reached.
To counter the unilateral imposition of tariffs by the US, the EU is preparing countermeasures targeting two lists of US products.
The Commission's spokesperson Olof Gill announced on Wednesday that the two lists would be merged, bringing the total value of retaliatory measures to €93 billion worth of US imports.
One list has been suspended until 6 August, whilst a second still requires adoption by member states.
'While our priority is negotiations, we continue in parallel to prepare for all outcomes including potential additional countermeasures,' Gill said, adding: 'To make our countermeasures clearer, simpler, and stronger, we will merge lists one and two into a single list (not entering into effect until 07/08) and submit this to member states for approval.'
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič was due to have a call with his US counterpart Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Wednesday afternoon, the Commission announced.
'Intensive technical and political level contact is ongoing,' Gill said.
'We need to change our negotiation method. We need to be able to retaliate and to put on the table any option that would change the balance of the negotiation,' French industry minister Marc Ferracci said in Berlin on Monday.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said back in April that the EU is ready to put pressure on the US by threatening to tariff its services, where it has a trade surplus with the EU, if negotiations in the ongoing trade war break down.
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