Le président américain a annoncé samedi 30% de taxes supplémentaires sur les importations européennes à partir du 1er août. L’UE, elle, espère toujours trouver un accord avec la Maison Blanche.
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Sans paiement. Sans souscription. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) on July 8, 2025. (PHILIPP VON DITFURTH / DPA / AFP)
Keeping a cool head. This is how the European Union (EU) is handling and responding to the threats from Donald Trump regarding tariffs. Meeting in the Council of Foreign Affairs on Monday, July 14, the trade ministers of the 27 EU member states will need to consider the best response to the American president, who announced a 30% tariff on the EU starting from August 1.
This announcement is the latest episode in a long saga that is wearing out the Europeans. On April 2, Donald Trump first announced the implementation of «reciprocal tariffs» including a minimum tariff of 10%, as well as targeted surcharges for many countries – 24% for the EU. To allow time for negotiations, and in response to the panicked reaction of the financial markets, the plan was put on hold a few days later. Another about-face from the White House and another delay on Monday, July 7, when Donald Trump decided to push back the deadline to August 1, when the new customs duties were originally set to take effect on July 9.
The announcement of an additional 30% tariff now appears as a snub to the EU, which manages trade-related issues for its member states, while its representatives have been negotiating with the United States for several months. In early July, Maros Sefcovic, the European Commissioner for Trade, even went to Washington with the aim of finalizing a «deal». Without success. According to information gathered by France Télévisions from diplomatic sources, the discussions held so far were based on American tariffs of 10%, with several exceptions. A similar rate to the one obtained by the UK in early May.
Faced with the threats from the American president, Europeans still want to believe that an agreement is possible. «The EU has always given priority to a negotiated solution with the United States,» reacted the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a cold and factual statement on Saturday, far from the rhetorical outbursts of Donald Trump. The following day, the head of the European executive announced that the EU would extend the suspension of countermeasures against American tariffs on steel and aluminum, which was set to expire on Monday night.
This is a way to show goodwill to Washington. Because the impact of new tariffs would be detrimental to the EU, whose economy is not in the best shape. In 2024, the European Union exported goods worth 532.3 billion euros and services worth 334.5 billion euros to the United States. In the opposite direction, American imports amounted to 334.8 billion euros for goods and 482.5 billion euros for services, according to European Council figures.
Faced with the flip-flops of the White House occupant, the EU prefers to stay the course for now. «It is not in a hurry and prefers not to react impulsively, to let the Americans trip over their own inconsistency,» analyzed Sébastien Jean, an economics professor at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts and associate director at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), for franceinfo this week.
This wait-and-see approach does not mean that European institutions have no cards to play. «We will continue to prepare countermeasures to be fully ready,» Ursula von der Leyen clarified on Sunday. The Commission has already prepared tariffs on American products worth around 21 billion euros, in response to the 25% tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports earlier this year.
Other additional taxes, under discussion, could be imposed on the Americans. But the EU, still committed to multilateralism, free trade, and international law, remains particularly cautious on the subject. This is enough to irritate some, including France, who call for more firmness. «The European Commission must advance in the development of countermeasures to act in the absence of a mutually acceptable agreement,» said Benjamin Haddad, Minister Delegate for Europe, on X, inviting Europeans to «defend themselves without naivety». A few hours later, Emmanuel Macron called on the Commission to «resolutely defend European interests», urging it to «accelerate the preparation of credible countermeasures.»
Other countries, like Italy, still want to negotiate with the Trump administration to reach an agreement, even if it means making concessions. The German government, which had long been on this line, seems willing to change its mind. «Decisive» measures will be necessary if the negotiations do not result in a «fair» agreement, said the German Finance Minister on Sunday in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. «Our hand remains outstretched, but we will not accept anything,» he continued. «Even if retaliations may be economically absurd, from a strategic and credibility standpoint, I don’t see how to avoid them,» also estimated Rupert Schlegelmilch, a professor at the College of Europe and former director of trade at the European Commission.
L’Union européenne continue d’espérer trouver un accord avec la Maison Blanche. Sans inscription. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) on July 8, 2025.
Keeping a cool head. This is how the strategy and position of the European Union (EU) can be summarized in the face of threats from Donald Trump regarding tariffs. Meeting in the Council of Foreign Affairs on Monday, July 14, the trade ministers of the 27 member states will have to consider the best response to provide to the American president, who has announced a 30% tariff on the EU starting from August 1.
This announcement is the latest episode in a long saga that is exhausting Europeans. On April 2, Donald Trump first announced the implementation of «reciprocal tariffs» including a minimum tariff of 10%, as well as targeted surcharges for many countries – 24% for the EU. To allow time for negotiation, and in response to the panicked reaction of financial markets, the plan was put on hold a few days later. Another U-turn from the White House and another postponement, on Monday, July 7, when Donald Trump decided to extend the deadline to August 1, while the new tariffs were supposed to come into effect on July 9.
The announcement of the imposition of an additional 30% tariff now appears as a rebuke to the EU, which manages trade-related issues for its member states, while its representatives have been negotiating with the United States for several months. In early July, Maros Sefcovic, the EU Commissioner for Trade, even went to Washington with the aim of finalizing a «deal». Without success. According to information gathered by France Télévisions from diplomatic sources, the discussions held so far were based on American tariffs of 10%, with several exceptions. A similar rate to that obtained by the UK in early May.
Faced with threats from the American president, Europeans still want to believe that an agreement is possible. «The EU has always given priority to a negotiated solution with the United States,» reacted the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a cold and factual statement, far from the epistolary flights of Donald Trump. The next day, the head of the European executive announced that the EU would extend the suspension of countermeasures to American tariffs on steel and aluminum, which was set to expire on Monday night.
This is a way to show goodwill to Washington. Because the impact of new tariffs would be detrimental to the EU, whose economy is not in the best shape. In 2024, the European Union exported €532.3 billion in goods and €334.5 billion in services to the United States. In the other direction, American imports accounted for €334.8 billion for goods and €482.5 billion for services, according to European Council figures.
Faced with the flip-flops of the White House tenant, the EU prefers for now to stay the course. «It is not in a hurry and prefers not to react impulsively, to let the Americans trip over their own inconsistency,» analyzed Sébastien Jean, professor of economics at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts and associate director at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) for franceinfo this week.
This wait-and-see attitude does not mean that European institutions have no cards to play. «We will continue to prepare countermeasures to be fully ready,» Ursula von der Leyen clarified on Sunday. The Commission has already prepared tariffs on American products worth around €21 billion in response to the 25% tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports earlier this year.
Other additional taxes, under discussion, could be imposed on Americans. But the EU, still attached to multilateralism, free trade, and international law, remains particularly cautious on the subject. This is enough to irritate some, including France, which calls for more firmness. «The European Commission must move forward in developing countermeasures to act in the absence of a mutually acceptable agreement,» said Benjamin Haddad, Minister Delegate for Europe, on Saturday, urging Europeans to «defend themselves without naivety». A few hours later, Emmanuel Macron called on the Commission to «resolutely defend European interests,» urging it to «accelerate the preparation of credible countermeasures.»
Other states, such as Italy, still want to negotiate with the Trump administration to reach an agreement, even if it means making concessions. The German government, which has long been on this line, seems willing to change its mind. «Decisive» measures will be necessary if the negotiations do not lead to a «fair» agreement, the German Finance Minister declared on Sunday in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. «Our hand remains outstretched, but we will not accept just anything,» he added. «Even if retaliatory measures may be economically absurd, from a strategic and credibility point of view, I don’t see how they can be avoided,» Rupert Schlegelmilch, a professor at the College of Europe and former Director of Trade at the European Commission, also estimated.
The American president announced on Saturday that he would impose an additional 30% tax on European imports starting August 1. L’Union européenne continue d’espérer trouver un accord avec la Maison Blanche.
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