Donald Trump threatens the EU with tariffs, the EU likes to negotiate, but ready for a trade war | Credit: Tomas Ragina/Shutterstock
Donald Trump illuminated Hughes about what could become a transatlantic trade war. This time, we’ll be using a 17% tariff bomb that aims to export precious European food and farms. The threat has landed violently in Brussels this week after EU trade commissioner Maros Schiffchovich received a direct warning during talks in Washington.
Among the people at the table, Trump’s economy, EU, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Commerce Secretary Howard Luttonick. According to multiple sources, Trump intends to send formal letters to 12 countries warning that permanent tariffs will reach up to 70% unless the transaction reaches the voluntary deadline of July 9.
“They are probably worth 60% to 10% to 10% and 20%, but they (the letter) will start going out someday tomorrow,” he told reporters. According to To the parents.
Support the negotiated solution
For the EU, this means that Belgian chocolate, French cheese, Irish butter, Spanish olive oil and Italian prosciutto face customs walls at the US border.
EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said on Friday evening that the EU priorities “continued to support the negotiated solutions.” Gill also said “in principle we made progress towards an agreement during the latest negotiations held this week,” and negotiations will continue “effectively over the weekend.”
However, the EU also revealed that if Trump leaves before Wednesday, it will be prepared for a potential trade war with all retaliatory tariffs from Bourbon to Boeing 747, the Guardian noted.
Time is running out
On Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that the EU is seeking a high-level framework agreement and said it would be too difficult to achieve a comprehensive agreement within the available time frame.
The EU is also seeking immediate relief from tariffs in key sectors as part of its framework, including the automotive industry, which will have to deal with tariffs of 27.5%, rising from 2.5% before Trump launched a trade attack.
“What we’re aiming for is, in principle, agreement,” von der Leyen said in Denmark. “That’s what the UK did.”
The 90-day suspension on Trump’s “liberation tariff” ended Wednesday in more than 60 countries, in addition to the EU.
The EU is ready for a trade war
If the US experiences that threat, the EU will not blink. “All instruments are on the table,” the EC President says, as the atmosphere grows in Europe, this time the Bloc will not put pressure on them.
It’s not just dollars and cents that keep the trade going. It’s ideology. The US and the EU no longer speak the same trading language.
The Trump administration sees negotiations as a zero-sum game. In contrast, Brussels remains rooted in the principle of reciprocity. That discrepancy progressed during the Ice Age. Even limited framework deals prove that even political statements with no binding details remain on the clock only hours.
Big technology, big problems
One important fracture is digital regulations. Europe has become a global benchmark for thwarting major technologies, from data privacy to algorithmic transparency. The US sees these rules as targeted trade restrictions, particularly when applied to the Silicon Valley giants.
“Trump’s team hopes the EU will hamper digital rules as the price of the transaction,” said Alberto Rizzi of the European Council of Foreign Relations. “But it will fly in the face of European legal architecture and democratic commitment.”
The message from Brussels is clear. Regulations on digital platforms do not meet negotiations.
Taxation: Red Line
Another point of competition is VAT. Trump has long framed the European Value Added Tax System as a hidden tariff on American goods, despite VAT being collected equally on domestic and foreign products. Still, Trump claims to put American businesses at a disadvantage.
European officials view this as yet another distortion, and consider it to undermine reasonable negotiations. “Taxing is a national issue. It’s a complete suspension,” said a senior EU diplomat. “It’s not even on the table.”
When the worldviews collide
More broadly, consultations are hampered entirely by a lack of trust. Trump’s view is transactional. Allies must either pay membership fees or face consequences. Meanwhile, Europe advocates multilateralism and rules-based trade. Both sides negotiate in essentially different universes.
“This administration is seeing consultations through a lot of leverage,” said Philip Lack, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They don’t believe in mutual interest. They want to surrender.”
Trump’s pushback on the EU’s offer of zero-duty zero-tax – essentially an armistice in exchange for free trade – has only deepened the gap.
Clocking the clock, rising stakes
Both sides argue that they want to avoid escalation, but few believe that meaningful transactions are within reach. “I’m extremely skeptical,” said Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute. “The EU will retaliate, and we’ll enter the spiral after retaliation until economic pain forces us to blink.”
Von der Leyen and Sifchovich argue that they are still working towards a “good and ambitious transatlantic trade agreement.” But off-record, EU officials have admitted they are prepared for the worst.
One diplomat summed it upright: “Does Trump want to play hardball? Fines. But Europe doesn’t bring baguettes into the shootout.”
