The European Union, taken as a whole, is America’s biggest trading partner. That makes President Trump’s fresh tariffs especially painful for the 27-nation bloc — but also gives it a uniquely large amount of economic weight to throw around in response.
In the hours after Mr. Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement on Wednesday, European leaders began to make clear that they plan to do so.
Among the options: to impose trade barriers on U.S. services firms, in particular giant technology companies like Google who do a huge amount of E.U. business. And policymakers are already finalizing lists of jacked-up tariffs that could go into effect as soon as mid-April. Member state representatives are expected to vote on them next week, a senior European official said on Thursday, speaking anonymously to brief reporters.
Officials could add to those lists in the coming weeks, in response to both auto tariffs and Mr. Trump’s freshly announced 20 percent levy on the European Union. They have not yet committed to a specific plan.
Commenting on the new U.S. tariffs early Thursday morning, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the E.U. executive arm, said, “There seems to be no order in the disorder, no clear path to the complexity and chaos that is being created,” adding that Europeans felt “let down by our oldest ally.”
The European Union was built around free trade and cooperation, and its leaders remain adamant that tariffs are bad for everyone. Europe is still trying to push for active discussions, and the E.U. trade commissioner said on social media on Thursday that he would speak to his U.S. counterparts tomorrow.