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The EU will delay its plan to make the United States with tariffs for 21 billion euros of its annual exports to Europe on Tuesday to reach an agreement after Donald Trump announced the block from August 1 with 30 percent tariffs.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Sunday that the application of tariffs to 21 billion euros in the annual US exports to the EU, including chicken, motorcycles and clothing that should come into force after midnight on July 14th, should be exposed to the “early August”.
“We were always clear that we prefer a negotiated solution in the USA. This remains the case,” she said.
Donald Trump announced On Saturday that he would meet the EU and Mexico, two of the closest trading partners in the United States, with 30 percent tariffs from August 1st.
The European heads of state and government were shared whether the block presses a better result, similar to the Great Britain or continued to negotiate in the hope of.
Senior EU officials informed the FT that they would not have expected Trump to ultimately go through his new threat from 30 percent tariffs, which Brussels, as a commandment of the US president, is widespread to increase the pressure on the remaining time for negotiations on the block.
An EU official pointed out the probability of a very negative reaction from the US investors for such steep measures for an important trading partner.
“We trust the markets,” said the official.
The German finance minister Lars Klingbeil asked the EU to continue “serious” talks. “Nobody currently needs new threats or provocations. We need so that the EU continues seriously and targeted negotiations with the USA,” he said to Süddeutsche Zeitung.
However, Klingbeil warned that “if a fairly negotiated solution cannot be achieved, we have to take decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and companies in Europe.”
In addition to the initial list of counter -collectors, the European Commission, which operates trade policy, advises a package of tariffs for another 95 billion euros from imports from the USA, including aircraft, alcohol and food that require the Member States’ consent. According to two diplomats, this has already been reduced to € 72 billion after the governments used to remove some sensitive products from the target list.
The United States turns tariffs to around EUR 380 billion in annual imports from the EU.
The Leyen said that the Commission continued to “prepare” the second list of countermeasures, but she said that the block would not appoint its anti-constraint instrument, which would enable him to take measures against US service exports, for example by blocking companies from public procurement contracts.
The instrument “is created for extraordinary situations – we are not there yet,” said the President of the Commission and added that “the time for negotiations is”.
Her comments came when she announced a “political agreement” for a free trade agreement with Indonesia after nine years of talks.
The deal, which is expected in September, must be ratified by a weighted majority of Member States and the European Parliament. Officials are confident that it will pass because Indonesia does not export sensitive agricultural products such as beef.
The bilateral goods trade between the EU and Indonesia was EUR 27.3 billion in 2024, with the EU exports worth € 9.7 billion and EU imports worth € 17.5 billion worth EUR 9.7 billion.
“I am very happy that in this era of instability and confusion we give a real example,” said President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto.
From the Leyen said that the diversification of its trade agreements was a central part of the EU strategy to combat Trump’s trade war.
However, some corporate groups and politicians have criticized Leyen’s approach.
The Italian deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the right -wing extremist league party, who was enthusiastic about Trump’s re -election, beat in Brussels due to ill -treatment.
“Trump has no reason to attack our country, but once again we pay the price for a Europe conducted in German,” said the league in an explanation.
Coldiretti, the influential Italian Agribusiness Association, also criticized Brüssel’s dealings with the negotiations and warned that Trump’s 30 percent tariff would cause a “death flow” for Italian food exports, and estimates the Italian producer an estimated EUR 2.3 billion.
“If the tariffs were to be confirmed on August 1st, we cannot help but the complete failure of the Leyen politics,” said Ettore Prandini, President of Coldiretti.
Additional reporting by Amy Kazmin in Rome, Henry Foy in Brussels and Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Berlin
