EU May Meet US Tariffs With New Steel Safeguard, ‘Very Fast’ Retaliation, Official Says
The EU will consider upcoming U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum as it enters the final stages of a review of its steel safeguard measures (see 2412180032), with the aim of protecting European firms from import surges caused by the coming tariffs, said Leopoldo Rubinacci, the European Commission’s deputy director-general for trade.
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Rubinacci, speaking during a European Parliament hearing this week, said the commission plans to complete its review by the end of March, and that could lead to changes to its current system of quotas for steel imports. If Trump follows through on the new 25% steel and aluminum tariffs next month, Rubinacci said, the bloc could consider tightening current quotas, putting in place “a new safeguard or look at other means of protecting the market.”
The commission “has indicated that it intends to find a solution to make sure that fair trade continues to take place in steel, and to address a certain number of issues,” Rubinacci said. It could also extend its current steel safeguards beyond their expiration in June 2026.
His comments came days after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to retaliate against the tariffs (see 2502110078). Asked by a member of Parliament how quickly the EU would retaliate after the U.S. duties are imposed, Rubinacci said countermeasures would be in place immediately.
“What do we mean by immediately? Very fast,” he said. “This house often criticizes the commission for being too slow. I hope that this time you will not criticize the commission for being too fast.”
But Rubinacci stressed that the EU would prefer not to have to retaliate, saying “nobody really wants to have the pain” of a tit-for-tat U.S.-EU tariff war. “Let's not fool ourselves. This is a major political decision to go for this retaliation,” he said. “It's not something that we're going to decide lightly.”
The commission wants to first “talk, negotiate, find a solution, and then we will decide whether there is anything in terms of retaliation.”
But if talks break down, he said, the EU won’t hesitate to impose countermeasures.
The plan "is first and foremost to engage and find solutions,” Rubinacci said. “But at the same time, we have said that, if we are hit by unfair tariffs which we don't think are justified, we will react firmly and immediately.”
Bernard Lange, chair of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, said the discourse around tariffs and retaliation shows “this is really a low point in our transatlantic trade relations” with the U.S. Rubinacci said the EU wants to “strengthen” trade with the U.S., not weaken it, and is open to working together on “shared challenges like economic security, non-market policies and practices,” and more.
But “it's not business as usual,” he said. “There is a new administration in the U.S., and the president of that administration has decided that he wants to change a number of things.”