By Kim Mackrael
The European Union is preparing to respond to the Trump administration's latest tariff plans, a spokesman for the bloc's executive body said.
President Trump's earlier metals tariffs prompted the EU to threaten retaliatory duties on a range of U.S. products, including whiskey and motorboats, which are due to start in mid-April.
The EU regrets the U.S. measures and officials are preparing to address the automotive and reciprocal tariffs the U.S. now has planned, an EU spokesman said Thursday.
"I can't tell you exact timings for when our potential response" will come, the spokesman said. "But I can assure you that it will be timely, that it will be robust, that it will be well-calibrated and that it will achieve the intended impact."
The EU has said repeatedly that it wants to avoid tariffs and prefers doing a deal with the U.S. that could benefit both sides. But European officials say they were told the U.S. doesn't want to enter negotiations before its planned announcements on reciprocal tariffs next week.
EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and another senior European official held lengthy meetings with U.S. officials in Washington on Tuesday. The European officials came away with the view that the U.S. may impose reciprocal tariffs on the EU in the range of 10% to 25%, two people briefed on the matter said.
U.S. officials outlined several concerns, including the EU's value-added tax; regulations that affect some U.S. tech giants; food and safety rules, and country-level taxes on digital services, according to a third person who was briefed on the matter. The U.S. also raised issues with an EU sustainability-reporting law.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 27, 2025 09:58 ET (13:58 GMT)
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