During that fateful meeting between Ukrainian President Zelensky and United States President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in February 2025, Trump told Zelensky (and indirectly Europe) that he had no cards. While Ukraine and the European Union are indeed heavily reliant on the US for its security, the EU has no dearth of cards when it comes to matters of trade. With 450 million consumers and an economy valued at 17 trillion euros and accounting for 22 percent of global GDP, the EU is the world’s largest single market. On 9th April, the EU approved its first set of retaliatory tariffs on the US, levied in response to the 25 percent US tariffs imposed earlier this year on European steel and aluminum imports worth 26 billion euros. With the exception of the perennial outlier Hungary, the European Commission’s proposal to impose retaliatory tariffs on around 21 billion euros worth of American products was unanimously approved by 26 EU member states. The target sectors included soybeans, motorcycles, textiles, wood, poultry, orange juice, almonds and metals with the list tilting towards products exported from Republican strongholds. The countermeasures excluded bourbon whisky after successful lobbying from alcohol-exporting member states France, Italy and Ireland who fear Trump’s previous threats of a 200 percent tariff on European spirits coming to fruition.
EU Response to Trump’s Tariffs: Between Retaliation and Negotiation
