By Philip Blenkinsop
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) -The European Commission said on Monday it had offered a “zero-for-zero” tariff deal to avert a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump as EU ministers agreed to prioritise negotiations, while striking back with targeted countermeasures next week.
The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars and broader tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for almost all other goods under Trump’s policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to U.S. imports.
Ministers overseeing trade met in Luxembourg on Monday to debate the EU’s response and discuss relations with China. Many said the priority was to launch negotiations to remove Trump’s tariffs, rather than fight them.
Michal Baranowski, deputy economy minister of Poland, told a press conference after the meeting that his EU counterparts did not want to be “trigger-happy.”
EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said discussions with Washington were at an early stage and that he had offered “zero-for-zero” tariffs for cars and other industrial products, expressing hope that discussions could begin.
However, Trump’s top trade adviser on Monday dismissed tech-billionaire Elon Musk’s push for “zero tariffs” between the U.S. and Europe, calling the Tesla CEO a “car assembler” reliant on parts from other countries
“While the EU remains open to – and strongly prefers – negotiation, we will not wait endlessly,” Sefcovic said, adding the bloc would push ahead with countermeasures and steps to avoid floods of diverted imports.
The EU is set to approve this week an initial set of countermeasures on up to $28 billion of imports from the U.S. ranging from dental floss to diamonds, in response to Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs rather than the broader levies.
But even that move has proven fraught, with Trump threatening a 200% counter-tariff on EU alcoholic drinks if the bloc goes ahead with an earmarked 50% duty on U.S. bourbon. France and Italy, major exporters of wine and spirits, have expressed concern.
Sefcovic said the list was being finalised but would be smaller than initially envisaged because of EU country complaints. The bloc will start collecting the tariffs on April 15, with a second tranche starting a month later.
EU KEEPS ALL RETALIATION OPTIONS OPEN
The bloc is expected to produce a larger package of countermeasures by the end of April, as a response to U.S. car and broader tariffs.
Sefcovic made clear the EU was ready to consider all retaliatory options. One is the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, which allows it to target U.S. services or to limit U.S. companies’ access to EU public procurement tenders.
“We are prepared to use every tool to protect single market,” he said, echoing the views of French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin.
In a war of tariffs on goods, Brussels has less to target than Washington, given EU goods imports from the U.S. totalled 334 billion euros ($366.2 billion) in 2024, against 532 billion euros of EU exports to the U.S.
Some EU countries, particularly those exposed to trade with the United States, urged caution. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris described the ACI as “very much the nuclear option.”
Baranowski said EU members were open to keeping options open, with a stress on proportionality.
“There were various ideas put on the table. Some countries mentioned services. Other didn’t. Some countries mentioned digital services, others didn’t,” he said.
Outgoing German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the EU should realise it was in a strong position – if it was united.
“The stock markets are already collapsing and the damage could become even greater … America is in a position of weakness,” he said in Luxembourg.
($1 = 0.9121 euros)
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Bart Meier, Rachel More; writing by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Mark Heinrich and Rod Nickel)
