EU Member States voted in favor of the European Commission's proposal to introduce trade retaliation measures against the United States of America.
"The EU considers the US tariffs to be unjustified and harmful, causing economic harm to both countries, as well as to the global economy. The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the US that would be balanced and mutually beneficial," the EU executive said in a statement.
Today's approval by member states means that once the Commission's internal procedures are completed and the implementing act is published, the retaliatory measures will enter into force and the tariffs will be triggered on April 15.
Only Hungary opposed the package, according to four EU diplomats with direct knowledge of the vote, while all 26 other countries voted in favor.
The commission will impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on a wide range of US exports worth about 22.1 billion euros, based on EU imports in 2024, according to an internal document reviewed by "Politico".
The list includes common agricultural and industrial goods such as soybeans, meat, tobacco, iron, steel and aluminum. - to hit the American sectors that rely most on transatlantic exports.
The first set of tariffs on goods like blueberries or orange juice, which the EU initially imposed in 2018 during Trump's first presidency but stopped in 2021, will take effect on April 15.
A 25 percent tariff on a second batch of imports, such as steel, meat, white chocolate and polyethylene, will then take effect on May 16. Finally, a 25 percent tariff on almonds and soybeans will take effect on December 1.
In total, the EU tariffs are expected to hit $13.5 billion in exports from "red" states (those with a Republican majority), according to an analysis by "Politico" of trade data for 2024.
While the Commission ultimately left whiskey out of the final draft after successful lobbying by France, Italy and Ireland, it included other more niche products designed to cause the most pain to exporters in Republican states.
These include (but are not limited to) ice cream from Arizona, handkerchiefs from South Carolina, electric blankets from Alabama, ties and bow ties from Florida (unless they are made of silk, which Democratic California will happily provide) and washing machines from Wisconsin.
The EU is also targeting beef from Kansas and Nebraska, poultry from Louisiana, auto parts from Michigan, cigarettes from Florida and wood products from North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
The US is the world’s second-largest producer and exporter of soybeans, and EU tariffs would hit a sector already hit by China’s retaliatory measures, the growing global competition and falling prices. In addition, 82.5 percent of U.S. soybean exports to the EU come from Louisiana, the home state of House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Beijing has targeted American produce, imposing a 15 percent tariff on goods such as chicken, wheat and corn, along with a 10 percent tariff on soybeans, meat, fruit and other agricultural exports. Meanwhile, Canada has imposed two sets of tariffs - 25 percent on a range of agri-food products and another 25 percent on steel and aluminum products.
For its part, Brussels is experimenting with a carrot-and-stick approach to signal that it will not bow to Trump's demands, while leaving the door open for negotiations. On Monday, the bloc proposed a "zero-for-zero" tariff scheme on industrial goods, covering, among other things, cars, medicines, chemicals, plastics and machinery.
However, Trump said the offer was not enough and called on EU countries to buy $350 billion worth of American energy products to make the trade deficit "disappear... in a week".
As a last resort, the bloc could use its "economic bazooka" to hit US services, which would take the trade war to a whole new level - something not all EU countries are ready to do yet.