EU plans to engage more with other nations hit by US tariffs

Jorge Valero, Andrea Palasciano, Alberto Nardelli, Bloomberg News on Jul 13, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

The E.U. is preparing to step up its engagement with other countries hit by Donald Trump’s tariffs following a slew of new threats to the bloc and other U.S. trading partners, according to people familiar with the matter.

Contacts will take place with nations, including Canada and Japan, and could include the potential for coordination, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

The move comes as talks between the E.U. and the U.S. have dragged on and continue to be stuck on several issues, including cars and tariff rates on agriculture.

Member states were briefed on the status of talks on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc will extend the suspension of trade countermeasures against the U.S. until Aug. 1 to allow for further talks. The measures had been adopted in response to tariffs imposed earlier by Trump on steel and aluminum before being paused a first time, and were due to snap back into place at midnight on Tuesday.

“At the same time, we will continue to prepare further countermeasures so we are fully prepared,” von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels on Sunday, while reiterating the E.U.’s preference for a “negotiated solution.”

The current list of countermeasures would hit about €21 billion ($24.5 billion) of U.S. goods, while the E.U. has another one ready of about €72 billion, as well as some export controls, that will be presented to member states as early as Monday, said the people.

Von der Leyen also said that the E.U.’s anti-coercion instrument, the bloc’s most powerful trade tool, won’t be used at this point. “The ACI is created for extraordinary situations,” she said. “We are not there yet.”

In a social media post responding to Trump’s announcement, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the speeding-up of preparations for credible countermeasures, including the anti-coercion tool, if no agreement is reached by Aug. 1.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday evening said 30% tariffs would hit exporters in Europe’s largest economy “to the core” if a negotiated solution in the trade conflict can’t be found.

Merz said he was coordinating closely with other leaders to ensure tariffs of such magnitude don’t come into force. “That requires two things: unity in the European Union and good lines of communication with the American president,” the conservative leader told ARD in an interview.

Trump has sent letters to a slew of trading partners, tweaking tariff levels proposed in April and inviting them to further talks. In a letter published Saturday, the U.S. president warned the E.U. it would face a 30% rate from next month if better terms can’t be negotiated.

The E.U. had sought to conclude a tentative deal with the U.S. to stave off higher tariffs, but Trump’s letter punctured recent optimism in Brussels over the prospects for an 11th-hour agreement. Other countries like Mexico, which has also been negotiating with the U.S., were surprised to receive similar letters.

The E.U. is seeking a tariff no higher than 10% on agricultural exports. An offset mechanism that some carmakers had pushed as a way to grant tariff relief to companies in return for investments in the U.S. isn’t under consideration for now, amid worries from the E.U. that it could shift production across the Atlantic.

The bloc’s negotiators are focusing talks on car tariffs instead, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

Negotiations between the U.S. and E.U. are expected to continue this week, said the people.

The U.S. and the E.U. have been discussing an initial deal that would see most E.U. exports hit with a 10% tariff, with limited exemptions for some industries such as aviation and medical devices, Bloomberg previously reported. The E.U. has also been arguing for lower rates on spirits and wines, as well as mitigating through quotas the 50% tariffs that Trump has imposed on steel and aluminum. The U.S. has proposed a 17% tariff on agricultural products. Any initial agreement would also cover non-tariff barriers, economic security cooperation and strategic purchases.

In addition to a universal levy now due in August, Trump has also introduced 25% levies on cars and parts, as well as double that on metals. The president is working to introduce sectoral levies in other areas, including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, and recently announced a 50% duty on copper.

Any deal at this stage wouldn’t automatically shield the E.U. from those sectoral measures, but the bloc continues to seek preferential treatment in the potentially affected industries.

______

(With assistance from Michael Nienaber, Ros Krasny and Shiyin Chen.)