In the EU there was recently hope that the customs conflict is still being able to avert the customs conflict with the United States. In the middle of the ongoing negotiations, however, US President Donald Trump announces a doubling of the existing special tariffs to steel and aluminum imports from 25 to 50 percent. Is a real trade war programmed? Questions and answers at a glance:
Why is the new announcement surprising?
Above all, because it finally looked like that Donald Trump might also be interested in a mutually acceptable solution to the trade conflict. After Trump had threatened a new drastic increase in customs for the beginning of June at the end of June at the end of last week, he first got involved in a conversation with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. Afterwards Trump pulled the threat back and made it clear that negotiations should be made by July 9th. With the good conversation, there is now new momentum, it said from the EU Commission.
Since then there have been several phone calls between the trade officers on both sides. Most recently, EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic on Friday with US Minister of Trade Howard Lutnick.
How does the EU react to the new announcement?
There was initially no response from the EU Commission responsible for the customs negotiations. She had recently made it clear that she wanted to concentrate on the negotiations. If the new tariffs really come into force on Wednesday and also apply to imports from the EU, it should be difficult not to react.
What could an EU answer look like?
The governments of the EU countries had already cleared the way for the first tariffs between 10 and 25 percent in April in April in response to the new tariffs ordered by US President Donald Trump. Theoretically, these could be put into force immediately and, among other things, to make manufacturers of jeans, motorcycles, beef or citrus fruits producing in the USA. Further measures are used. Further additional taxes on industrial and agricultural products such as cars, sweet potatoes and whiskey are considered.
What does Trump want to achieve with the tariffs?
The US President wants to correct alleged trade weights with the tariffs and secure production locations in the United States. The additional fees for imports would strengthen the US steel industry, he said on Friday in a speech in front of employees of a steel business in the state of Pennsylvania.
At the same time, customs revenues should serve to at least partially counter its expensive election promise of large tax cuts. Formally, the special tariffs that are already applicable are based on the import of steel, aluminum and cars by the US government with the protection of national security. From the EU’s point of view, however, the procedure and the argument are not compatible with the rules of the world trade organization (WTO).
What are the consequences of tariffs for the EU?
The European steel industry feared at the beginning of the year that further production capacities and jobs have to be broken down due to new US tariffs. According to this, the United States was the second largest export market for European steel producers in 2024. At that time, according to the Association of the European Steel Industry (Eurofer), they made up 16 percent of the total EU steel exports.
Germany’s largest steel manufacturer Thyssenkrupp Steel, on the other hand, said comparatively calmly at the time. The company in Essen pointed out that its main market for steel is Europe. The export of steel products to the United States was negligible, it said.
Can the EU Trump accommodate steel?
In theory, the EU and the USA could agree to tackle over capacities on the world market against massive subsidies. China is mainly held responsible for this. Companies from the EU also suffer enormously from price dumping. The European Commission has therefore created a system of protective measures for the domestic steel industry. This was last sharpened again in spring.
