EU Vows to React 'Firmly and Immediately' Against US Reciprocal Tariffs
The European Commission criticized President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs against trading partners (see 2502130030), calling it a “step in the wrong direction” and vowing to protect European businesses from any “unjustified tariff measures.”
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“The EU maintains some of the lowest tariffs in the world and sees no justification for increased US tariffs on its exports,” the commission said in a Feb. 13 statement. “Tariffs are taxes. By imposing tariffs, the US is taxing its own citizens, raising costs for business, stifling growth and fuelling inflation. Tariffs heighten economic uncertainty and disrupt the efficiency and integration of global markets.”
The commission added that trade has “flourished” under predictable rules and low tariffs, noting that it has worked for years with the U.S. and other trading partners to reduce duties and similar trade barriers. It has reinforced this “openness through binding commitments in the rules-based trading system -- commitments that the US is now undermining.”
It also said that more than 70% of EU imports aren’t subject to tariffs, and that the “EU has negotiated and concluded over three times as many trade agreements as the US.”
“The EU will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade, including when tariffs are used to challenge legal and non-discriminatory policies,” the commission said.