Customs duties: EU extends suspension of tariff countermeasures against the United States until August

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday, July 13, that Brussels would extend the suspension of countermeasures to US tariffs on steel and aluminum, as the EU seeks a deal to avoid a 30% tax on all its products.

"The United States has sent us a letter with measures that will take effect unless there is a negotiated solution, which is why we will also extend the suspension of our countermeasures until the beginning of August," said Ursula von der Leyen. The suspension of these retaliations to the US tariffs on steel and aluminum was due to expire on the night of Monday, July 14 to Tuesday, July 15.

"At the same time, we will continue to prepare countermeasures to ensure we are fully prepared," she added, the day after Donald Trump announced that 30% tariffs on all products from the European Union and Mexico would come into effect on August 1. The European Commission president insisted that the EU has "always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time we have now until August 1."

Brussels has been preparing tariffs on around €21 billion worth of US goods in response to Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports earlier this year. But the EU announced in April that it was suspending these measures to make way for a broader trade deal with the Trump administration.

"Decisive" measures to counter US tariffs will be necessary if negotiations with Washington do not lead to a "fair" agreement, the German finance minister said in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Sunday, July 13.

Lars Klingbeil argued that "serious and solution-oriented negotiations" with the United States were still necessary, but if they failed, the European Union would need "decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and businesses in Europe."

The day after Emmanuel Macron's initial reaction , calling on the EU to react strongly, the German finance minister declared that customs duties would "only create losers" and "threaten the American economy at least as much as businesses in Europe." "Europe remains determined and united: we want a fair agreement," he insisted. "Our hand remains outstretched, but we will not accept just anything," he continued, adding that measures "must continue to be prepared" in the event of a no-deal.

The introduction of 30% customs duties on European products entering the United States would have "disastrous economic consequences (...) for French agri-food companies" , reacted the national association of the sector (ANIA), after Donald Trump's announcement.

In its press release, Ania calls on the French and European public authorities to "protect the entire agri-food sector, the leading industry in France and Europe, and its agriculture in the ongoing negotiations with the United States and in the context of possible European countermeasures."