After Meeting with US Delegation, Such Expectations Shared
US to Announce Reciprocal Tariffs on April 2
Decision on Specific Tariffs Still Pending
Maros Sefcovic, European Union (EU) Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, was reported by the Financial Times (FT) on the 26th (local time) to have expected the tariff rate imposed by the Donald Trump administration on the US to be about 20%.
Commissioner Sefcovic, after visiting Washington DC the previous day and meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, told European officials that the US is expected to apply such tariffs to all 27 EU member states. He added that there were no signs of exceptions or exemptions for the EU.
Commissioner Sefcovic visited the US for tariff negotiations. He told the US side that a 20% tariff would be devastating to the EU and emphasized the mutual interest in protecting the market from cheap Chinese imports and promoting industrialization again. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "The EU's priority is fair and balanced trade, not unfair tariffs. We share the goal of industrial strength on both sides."
However, the US side showed a firm stance on imposing tariffs to Commissioner Sefcovic and continuously raised complaints about US trade policy. President Trump has claimed that the EU was "created to cheat the US" and that it did not buy enough American products.
President Trump called April 2 "Liberation Day" and announced that he would impose "reciprocal tariffs" on trading partners who take advantage of the US's low trade barriers.
The EU is preparing a second round of retaliatory tariffs if the Trump administration finalizes additional tariffs next week. The EU has announced that it will impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth a total of 26 billion euros (about 41 trillion won) in two stages on May 1 and 13 in response to the US's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The first stage involves imposing up to a 50% additional tariff on US goods worth 8 billion euros (about 12 trillion won), including bourbon whiskey, but after President Trump retaliated by threatening a 200% tariff on all EU liquors, the EU postponed the implementation of the first stage.
FT cited sources saying that US officials have not yet decided what tariffs to apply on April 2 and what legal measures to use to impose the tariffs.
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