Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the retaliatory trade action after the Trump administration officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, with duties on industrial and agricultural products that will go into effect April 1. The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen addresses European Parliament members on new plans to ramp up defense spending agreed at last week\u2019s summit, Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo\/Pascal Bastien)
Steel on coil cars ahead of transport at the main factory of struggling steel producer thyssenkrupp in Duisburg, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Martin Meissner, File)
The Harley-Davidson logo on a tank of a motor bike is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the retaliatory trade action after the Trump administration officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, with duties on industrial and agricultural products that will go into effect April 1. The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen addresses European Parliament members on new plans to ramp up defense spending agreed at last week\u2019s summit, Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo\/Pascal Bastien)
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen addresses European Parliament members on new plans to ramp up defense spending agreed at last week\u2019s summit, Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo\/Pascal Bastien)
Steel on coil cars ahead of transport at the main factory of struggling steel producer thyssenkrupp in Duisburg, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Martin Meissner, File)
Steel on coil cars ahead of transport at the main factory of struggling steel producer thyssenkrupp in Duisburg, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo\/Martin Meissner, File)
The Harley-Davidson logo on a tank of a motor bike is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
The Harley-Davidson logo on a tank of a motor bike is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
Whiskey stands in a board in a discount store in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)
BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 Major trade partners swiftly hit back at President Donald Trump\u2019s increased tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, imposing stiff new taxes on U.S goods including products from textiles and water heaters to beef and bourbon.
Canada, the largest steel supplier to the U.S., said Wednesday it will place 25% reciprocal tariffs on steel products and also raise taxes on a host of items: tools, computers and servers, display monitors, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.
Across the Atlantic, the European Union will raise tariffs on American beef, poultry, bourbon and motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans.
Combined, the new tariffs will cost companies billions of dollars, and further escalate the uncertainty in two of the world\u2019s major trade partnerships. Companies will either take the losses and earn fewer profits, or, more likely, pass costs along to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Prices will go up, in Europe and the United States, and jobs are at stake, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
\u201cWe deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers,\u201d von der Leyen said.
The EU duties aim for pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. EU officials have made clear that the tariffs \u2014 taxes on imports \u2014 are aimed at products made in Republican-held states, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska and wood products from Alabama and Georgia. The tariffs will also hit blue states such as Illinois, the No. 1 U.S. producer of soybeans, which are also on the list.<\/p>\n
Spirits producers have become collateral damage<\/a><\/span> in the dispute over steel and aluminum. The EU move \u201cis deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports in EU countries,\u201d said Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council. The EU is a major destination for U.S. whiskey, with exports surging 60% in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n
AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports the world\u2019s biggest trading bloc, the EU, was expecting U.S. tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense transatlantic relations.
Von der Leyen said in a statement that the EU \u201cwill always remain open to negotiation.\u201d
\u201cWe firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs,\u201d she said.
The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU said the U.S. tariffs and EU countermeasures \u201cwill only harm jobs, prosperity and security on both sides of the Atlantic.\u201d \u201cThe two sides must de-escalate and find a negotiated outcome urgently,\u201d the chamber said Wednesday.
Trump slapped similar tariffs on EU steel and aluminum during his first term in office, which enraged European and other allies. The EU also imposed countermeasures<\/a><\/span> in retaliation at the time, raising tariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.
This time, the EU action will involve two steps. First on April 1, the commission will reimpose taxes that were in effect from 2018 and 2020, but which were suspended under the Biden administration. Then on April 13 come the additional duties targeting 18 billion euros ($19.6 billion) in U.S. exports to the bloc.
EU Trade Commissioner Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d<\/a><\/span> traveled to Washington last month in an effort to head off the tariffs, meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick<\/a><\/span> and other top trade officials.
He said on Wednesday that it became clear during the trip \u201cthat the EU is not the problem.\u201d
\u201cI argued to avoid the unnecessary burden of measures and countermeasures, but you need a partner for that. You need both hands to clap,\u201d \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
Canada is imposing, as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday 25% reciprocal tariffs on steel products worth $12.6 billion Canadian (US$8.7 billion) and aluminum products worth $3 billion Canadian (US$2 billion) as well as additional imported U.S. goods worth $14.2 billion Canadian ($9.9 billion) for a total of $29.8 billion (US$20.6 billion.)
The list of additional products affected by counter-tariffs includes tools, computers and servers, display monitors, water heaters, sport equipment, and cast-iron products.
These tariffs are in addition to Canada\u2019s 25% counter tariffs on $30 billion Canadian (US$20.8 billion) of imports from the U.S. that were put in place on March 4 in response to other Trump tariffs that he\u2019s delayed by a month.
The EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports, according to the European steel association Eurofer. The U.S. is the second-biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16% of the total EU steel exports.
The EU estimates that annual trade volume between both sides stands at about $1.5 trillion, representing around 30% of global trade. While the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, it says that is partly offset by the U.S. surplus in the trade of services.
McHugh reported from Frankfurt and Gillies from Toronto. Jill Lawless contributed to this report from London.
A previous version of this story was corrected to show that Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d’s title is EU trade commissioner, not European Commission vice president.<\/p>\n