The European Union "deeply regrets" the new tariffs announced by Donald Trump on the import of steel, which "undermine ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution" with the United States, as admitted by a European Commission spokesperson in an email sent to the media on Saturday.
As reported by the AFP agency, the Commission has lamented that "this announcement adds more uncertainty to the global economy and increases costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic," as well as making it difficult for the negotiations to succeed. The statement reminds that the EU has held back its countermeasures awaiting the negotiation to progress, but has emphasized that it is "prepared" to take retaliatory measures: "If a mutually acceptable solution is not found, European 'countermeasures' will automatically come into effect on July 14, or even earlier if circumstances require it."
The Commission's reaction came hours after the U.S. President announced a new increase from 25% to 50% in tariffs on steel that will take effect next Wednesday.
"I asked the group: 'Would you prefer a 40% increase?' Because I was thinking of 40% when I arrived, but I said, 'Would you prefer 40% or 50%?' They said, 'Well, 50%!'. So, congratulations!" he said from Pittsburgh, at a US Steel plant, demonstrating that the measure was practically improvised.
The announcement by the White House tenant comes 48 hours after a federal court specialized in trade overturned the vast majority of his tariffs. Although the decision of those judges has been appealed and there are injunctions to suspend it - which means that formally the tariffs will remain active for at least a few more weeks, before the appeals court rules on it - the message sent has been a warning to his administration.
Nevertheless, this has not prevented Trump from continuing to announce measures to restrict the import of products from third countries.
The EU and the U.S. had set a deadline until June 9 to negotiate and try to avoid a tariff war between the two blocs, but as the Commission has reminded today, if the discussions do not succeed, the European countermeasures, currently on hold, will automatically come into effect on July 14 or even earlier.
In recent months, the EU has been affected on three occasions by the tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration: a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum announced in mid-March, a 25% tariff on automobiles, and then a 20% tariff on the rest of European products in April.
The Trump administration suspended this last tax until July 9 in order to engage in negotiations, but it is assumed that a 10% tariff will continue to be applied to most products exported to the United States by the European bloc, unless the U.S. judiciary definitively blocks them.