EU readies €100 billion no-deal plan to match US' 30% tariff

A cargo ship at the Port of Long Beach in California. Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg

The European Union plans to quickly hit the US with 30% tariffs on some €100 billion ($117 billion) worth of goods in the event of no deal and if US President Donald Trump carries through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc’s exports after Aug. 1.

As a part of a first wave of countermeasures, the EU would combine an already approved list of tariffs on €21 billion of US goods and a previously proposed list on an additional €72 billion of American products into one package, an European Commission spokesman said on Wednesday.

The US exports, which include industrial goods such as Boeing Co. aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey, would face a levy that matches Trump’s 30% threat, according to people familiar with the matter.

The tariffs would be prepared to come into force next month but only if there is no deal and the US implements its levies after the August deadline, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

The plans come as EU member states, including Germany, have hardened their positions in response to the US stiffening its negotiating stance.

Berlin would be willing to even support the activation of the EU’s anti-coercion instrument, or ACI, in a no-deal scenario, a government official said on condition of anonymity. This tool would come into play only if a deal fails to materialize.

The ACI is the bloc’s most potent trade tool and a growing number of member states is pushing for its use if a deal isn’t reached. The instrument is primarily designed as a deterrent and is currently not on the table, with its activation requiring a qualified majority of member states to support the move. The ACI would enable the EU to launch a broad range of retaliatory actions, including new taxes on US tech giants, targeted curbs on US investments, and limiting access to the EU market.

“We are now approaching the decisive phase in the tariff dispute with the USA. We need a fair, reliable agreement with low tariffs,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala. “Without such an agreement, we risk economic uncertainty at a time when we actually need exactly the opposite.”

Still, the overwhelming preference is to keep negotiations with Washington on track in a bid for an outcome to the impasse ahead of next month’s deadline.